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METHODIST HYIKOLOGY; 



COMPREHENDING 



NOTICES OP THE POETICAL WORKS 



JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY. 



SHOWING THE ORIGIN OF THEIR HYMNS IN THE METHODIST 

EPISCOPAL, METHODIST EPISCOPAL SOUTH, AND 

WESLEYAN COLLECTIONS; 

ALSO, 

OF SUCH OTHER HYMNS AS ARE NOT WESLEYAN, IN THE METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL HYMN-BOOK, 

AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHORS : 



tXHtl) Critical ana historical ©bsmmtions. 
BY DAVID CREAMER, 






Jfaro-Uork : 



PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR, 

200 Mulberry-street. 
JOSEPH LONGKING, PRINTER. 



^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, 

By David Creamer, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of 
New-York. 






V\ \ .. * -. \i 



»» > i 



REV. THOMAS B. SARGENT, 

OF THK BALTIMORE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE METHODIST E. CHURCH, 

©ins Volume, 

THE RESULT OF SEVERAL YEARS' STUDY, COMMENCED AND COMPLETED, 

WITH HIS AID AND ENCOURAGEMENT, 

IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 

AS A TOKEN OF GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT, 

BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND, 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



Unimportant as the present work may appear, and humble 
the place it may fill in the department of our sacred literature, 
the author would be unjust to himself, were he to send it forth 
without sending with it some account of the circumstances under 
which it was prepared. Early in life he became a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, the spiritual birthplace of his ho- 
nored parents, and of a sainted maternal grandsire. With his 
religious habits came an increasing desire to do something that 
would advance the cause of Christ, and promote the interests of 
his church ; but being sedulously engaged in mercantile affairs, 
his leisure hours alone could be devoted to literary pursuits. 
Among these the history of his own denomination ; the records 
of the good and the great that have adorned her pulpits and 
literary walks, and the memoirs of whose lives and labors con- 
stitute an inheritance for the children of the church above all 
price ; were some of the chief sources whence he derived spiritual 
and mental food. Of course, the works of the venerated Wes- 
leys were not overlooked ; and the poetic talent they exhibited 
presented attractions not to be found elsewhere. The Hymn- 
book, which is composed principally of their poetical effusions, 
soon obtained a place high in his affections, and he desired to 
know more about its history and contents than could be obtained 
from merely perusing its pages. Collateral aid was invoked. 
Little, however, could be found in this country ; and years passed 
by ere he could accomplish his purpose by importing from Eng- 
land a complete set of the Poetical Works of Messrs. John and 
Charles Wesley, as far at least as they contribute to the contents 
of the Hymn-book. These works he has now secured and con- 
sulted, with the exception of a single small tract. And, for- 
tunately, that is noticed so fully by Mr. Jackson in the English 
edition of his Life of its author, as to leave but little, if anything, 
unknown concerning it. While in the pursuit of his studies, the 
thought Avas suggested to him, that others might feci the same 



desire to become better acquainted with the history of the Hymn- 
book ; that prompted him to his researches, and he eventually 
determined to embody his labors in a volume, and publish them. 
After he had been thus engaged for some time, he was greatly 
encouraged in his undertaking by finding, in a minister of our 
church, one who regarded its hymnology with an interest equal 
to his own. Since then they have in a measure pursued the sub- 
ject together, and to him the author is indebted for much valuable 
information in the preparation of his work. 

When the author first directed his attention to Methodist or 
Wesleyan hymnology, the subject had attracted but little public 
interest. Soon after his earliest newspaper articles were pub- 
lished, he was somewhat, though agreeably, surprised to find that, 
simultaneously with himself, two other persons, one in our own 
country, the other in England, were devoting some attention to 
the same topic ; both of whom have since published the results 
of their labors : the former, Dr. Floy, in a review of the M. E. 
Hymn-book in the Methodist Quarterly Review for May, 1844; 
the latter, Mr. Burgess, in a small volume, entitled " Wesleyan 
Hymnology, or a Companion to the Wesleyan Hymn-book," 
which appeared in London, in 1845, and passed to a second 
edition the following year. During the past year, the M. E. 
Church, South, have published a new collection of Hymns, pre- 
pared by an able committee, of which the Rev. Dr. Summers 
was chairman. An elaborate review of the new Hymn-book, 
comprising upward of sixty pages, appeared in the Southern 
Methodist Quarterly Review for January, 1848. These publi- 
cations, together with a small tract of thirty or forty pages, ably 
written by the Rev. Thomas Roberts, and issued at Bristol in 
1808 ; the brief but valuable observations of Mr. Watson, in his 
Life of Wesley; the still more concise remarks of Mr. Moore; 
and the equally interesting, but more extended, review of Wes- 
leyan poetry, by Mr. Jackson, in his biography of Charles 
Wesley ; in connection with which, perhaps, ought to be men- 
tioned the remarks pf Milner. in his Life of Dr. Watts, of Holland, 
in his Psalmists of Britain, and some brief notices by James 
Montgomery, in his Christian Psalmist, and other works ; com- 
prise nearly all that has been published on this deeply interest- 
ing and important department of church literature. 

Although the work now presented to the public is the latest 



PREFACE. *l 

and most comprehensive history of Methodist hymnology that 
has yet appeared, the author having enriched its contents from 
all available sources, he is fully aware that the subject is by no 
means exhausted. And if he shall awaken new interest in the 
minds of the membership in relation to an important, though 
long-neglected, part of sacred literature, but one intimately asso- 
ciated with our history as Methodists ; and especially if he shall 
be the occasion of bringing abler pens, and better hearts, to the 
consideration and elucidation of this subject, he will find an 
ample reward for his labors in the pleasing and approving con- 
sciousness of having done his duty, and accomplished a " good 
work." 

The plan of the following work is simple, consisting of three 
parts. 

Part First embraces brief sketches of the authors of the 
hymns in the Hymn-book of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
biographical, historical, and critical ; showing the relation each 
sustained to Methodism, when there was such a connection, and 
giving such other facts as it was thought would be most interest- 
ing, in the limited space allowed for that purpose. This portion 
of his work has cost the author much less trouble, and is, per- 
haps, of less importance, than either of the other parts. 

Part Second is devoted entirely to a history and review of 
the poetical works of John and Charles Wesley. Here is shown 
the origin of all their hymns, first, in the Hymn-book of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, then such hymns as are found in 
the Hymn-book of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, but 
not in the former work ; lastly, such hymns as are in the Wesley an 
collection, but not in either of the other two works. It is desirable 
that this feature of the plan should be remembered in reading 
the Second Part. The number of poetical publications, large and 
small, of John and Charles Wesley, amount to over forty ; but 
several of them are compilations, principally however from their 
own works. The first Hymn-book published by Mr. J. Wesley 
was in 1738, the last in 1788, just half a century intervening be- 
tween them. 

In this part of his work the author thinks he has given some 
facts in the lives of the brothers not mentioned by their biogra- 
phers, and of course not generally known. He also thinks some 
additional light has been elicited, by which the future historian 



of Methodism may be led to correct conclusions on certain ob- 
scure or uncertain points. 

Part Third. This part of the work— although in reference 
to some hymns similar statements are repeated — contains the 
greatest variety of topics, and by many will be considered the 
most valuable, if this term may be applied to any portion of it. 
The hymns in the Methodist Episcopal Hymn-book are noticed 
in consecutive order ; the original title of each hymn is given, 
•when there is one; the text of Scripture on which founded, 
whether the hymn be a paraphrase of a number of verses, or a 
dilatation of a single verse, or part of a verse ; the full number 
of original stanzas ; notices of alterations, omissions, emendations, 
&c. ; occasional defects developed; beauties exhibited; sublime 
passages of thought or expression pointed out ; omitted stanzas of 
a remarkable character, and there are many such, are inserted, 
some of which will be found necessary to a proper understand- 
ing of those that have been retained ; occasional observations, criti- 
cal, historical, and exegetical. are introduced ; parallel passages 
from our poet and the best English poets, living and dead, are 
quoted, showing a remarkable coincidence in thought and ex- 
pression, from which it will appear that in plethory of poetic 
inspiration, sublimity of matter and conception, and classical 
purity of style. Wesley was in all respects their equal. 

Deficient in many respects as the work may be, no labor nor 
expense has been spared in procuring from all available sources, 
but principally by importation from London, works of reference, 
to insure full and correct information on all points. The original 
texts of all the hymns in the Hymn-book, with but very few 
exceptions, have been examined in the works of the authors. 
This has enabled the writer to point out what alterations, omis- 
sions, and emendations, have been made in the hymns either by 
the compilers of our collection, or by others. The volume may be 
consulted with nearly equal interest by the different branches of 
the great Wesleyan Methodist family ; and the author flatters him- 
self that his humble attempt to produce a work on a subject 
that has received, especially in this country, comparatively 
little attention, will not be deemed altogether undeserving of 
notice. He, however, with becoming diffidence, places it upon 
the altar of public opinion, and shall patiently await the verdict. 
The author's thanks are due to several individuals for their 



PREFACE. 9 

kindness and courtesy in furnishing him, or procuring for him, 
valuable works of reference, without which his volume would be 
less complete than it now appears. He therefore returns his most 
respectful acknowledgments to the Rev. Thomas B. Sargent and 
John G. Chappell, Esq., of Baltimore; and to Richard Baynes, 
Esq., of London, for the very important aid they have rendered 
him in the preparation of this work. D. C. 

E. Monument-street, Baltimore, May, 1848. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE BALTIMORE ANNUAL 
CONFERENCE, BALTIMORE, MARCH, 1848. 

The committee to whom was referred the MSS. of brother 
David Creamer of this city, entitled, " A History of the Hymn- 
book of the Methodist Episcopal Church," beg leave respectfully 
to report, — 

That they have examined the work as carefully and minutely 
as the limited time afforded them allowed, and are of opinion 
that it will be a valuable and important contribution to our 
sacred literature, on a subject confessedly inaccessible to the re- 
searches of our ministry and membership generally, and espe- 
cially in this country. 

The book contains the results of six years' absorbing study of 
this engaging branch of sacred poetry, with unequaled aids and 
facilities, embodying a brief memoir of each lyrist to whose* 
sanctified genius the church is indebted for these <: Songs of Zion ;" 
verifying the authors of the hymns in our book, as far as they 
have been discovered, giving in many instances the time and oc- 
casion of their composition, and, besides, a mass of critical obser- 
vations, which we are convinced will give new information to a 
majority of readers. The entire production is so fully Wes- 
LEYAN and Methodistic, that your committee are of opinion, 
that this conference may safely advise its immediate publication 
by our Book Concern ; and as the hymnology of the church is 
in various quarters attracting increased attention, we may, as a 
conference, recommend the book to the favorable consideration 
of the coming General Conference of our church. 



CONTENTS. 



Preface Page 5 

Part First. — Containing some Account of the 
Authors of the Hymns in the Methodist 
Hymn-book 11 

Part Second. — Comprehending Notices of the 
Poetical Works of John and Charles 
Wesley 93 

Part Third. — Wherein are noticed, in Consecu- 
tive Order, the Hymns in the Method- 
ist Episcopal Hymn-book, with Remarks, 
Critical. Historical, Explanatory, &c 230 

Index 465 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 



PART I. 

CONTAINING SOME ACCOUNT OP THE AUTHORS OF THE 
HYMNS IN THE METHODIST HYMN-BOOK. 

In the Hymn-book' of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
there are six hundred and ninety-seven hymns ; and,, 
although Mr. Charles Wesley wrote at least five hun- 
dred, and Mr. John Wesley about thirty, the remaining 
hymns were contributed by upward of thirty different 
authors. Among these are the elder and younger 
Samuel Wesley, father and brother of the founder of 
Methodism. It will be our province, in this part of 
our work, to give some account of these several authors : 
principally, however, as relates to their contributions 
to Methodist hymnology ; their association, incidental, 
or otherwise, with Methodism ; or their character as 
hymnologists, derived from such sources of information 
as may be within our reach. These, in some instances, 
being very limited, our sketches will be correspond- 
ingly brief ; nor shall we in any case substitute our 
own imperfect observations for what we may find al- 
ready prepared to our hand, of an authentic character, 
and in a more finished style ; making always due ac- 
knowledgment for every such quotation. We begin 
with the poet of Methodism. 



12 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 



€l)arks ttUsleg. 

The Rev. Mr. Burgess,* author of a valuable and 
highly interesting work, entitled "Wesleyan Hymn- 
ology," remarks : " While contemplating the human 
agency by which God was pleased to carry on the 
great work of Methodism, we should never forget the 
venerated name of Charles Wesley. He was a lively 
and powerful preacher of the gospel, and, in his earlier 
days, assisted his brother very considerably by his minis- 
terial labors. But his chief and distinguishing excel- 
lence was, his talent for sacred poetry. He has been 
denominated, with great justice and propriety, the 
bard of Methodism. 

" As God was about to raise up a new body of pro- 
fessing Christians, who were in time to become very 
numerous on both sides of the Atlantic, it was proper 
and necessary that they should be furnished with a 
sufficient variety of suitable hymns for public worship 
and for all devotional purposes. Nothing existed in 
those days, that could by any means answer the de- 

* In the '' Wesleyan Takings," supposed to be written by the 
Rev. James Everett, Mr. B. is thus taken : " Considerable skdl 
in music, both as a composer and player on the piano forte. A 
good volume of voice ; clear in his conceptions, and exquisite in 
his definitions : full of interest. A man upon whom the sun of 
science has shone from above, and upon whom industrious 
teachers have scattered the seeds of instruction below : but whose 
mental soil, independent of these, stirred and manured by self- 
cultivation, would have produced not only flowers and fruit, but 
trees of stately and noble growth. Son of a preacher, set out in 
1812— no inapt illustration of — For his letters, say they, are weighty 
and powerful ; but his bodily presence is weal:.'' 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 13 

mands or supply the wants of this new society. The 
version of the Psalms by Brady and Tate, though it 
possesses some merit, and exhibits some specimens of 
tolerably good poetry, would, on the whole, have been 
very meagre and unsatisfactory to those who had en- 
tered so largely into the enjoyment of Christian expe- 
rience and Christian privileges. Even Watts's Psalms 
and Hymns, though by far the best collection of de- 
votional poetry then extant, were in some respects 
unsuitable, and, as a whole, insufficient. As John 
"Wesley and Fletcher had each his own peculiar depart- 
ment in the common work — a department for which 
each was eminently fitted, and to which their energies 
were faithfully and perseveringly applied — so also 
Charles Wesley had his own peculiar department; one 
for which he was specially qualified, and in which no 
other person could have succeeded so well. Had not 
Charles Wesley been providentially led to write sacred 
poetry, there would have been a very serious deficiency 
in the system of Methodism ; its progress would not 
have been so rapid, nor its influences so extensive. It 
could not have been so serviceable in kindling and sus- 
taining the devotional spirit in the great congregation, 
or in aiding the religious exercises of the family and the 
duties of the closet. It could not have contributed so 
largely to alarm the careless and impenitent sinner ; to 
encourage and assist the sincere seeker of salvation ; to 
comfort the Christian believer amid all the difficulties 
and discouragements of his way ; to urge him on to the 
pursuit and attainment of high degrees of holiness ; to 
administer consolation to the subjects of pain and af- 
fliction ; and to enable the dying Christian to meet the 
last enemy with composure and fortitude, triumphing 



14 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

through his great Redeemer. To Watts and to Charles 
Wesley this honor peculiarly belongs ; and to the latter 
in as high a sense as to the former. Watts, indeed, 
took the lead ; he had the precedence, in point of time : 
but, in every other respect, the two poets may be con- 
sidered as occupying the same rank : only with this 
difference, that Wesley's talents were destined specially 
to serve the interests of Methodism ; and Watts's, those 
of other Christian denominations. 

" If we view the Wesleyan hymns merely as poetical 
compositions, we shall find them to be of a very supe- 
rior description, and deserving of the highest rank 
among productions of this class. Excepting a small 
proportion of Watts's hymns, and some of more recent 
date by Cowper, Montgomery, Heber, and a few others, 
there are no hymns whatever that deserve to be ranked 
with those of Charles Wesley. Doddridge, Toplady, 
Newton, Cennick, Steele, Beddome, and a host of 
others, are of an inferior class. Even Watts, with all 
his greatness and excellence, is not entitled to that 
unqualified commendation which by many has been 
bestowed upon him. It has long been the opinion of 
the writer of these remarks, that in a poetical point of 
view the great majority of Watts's psalms and hymns 
are not a whit above mediocrity, and many of them be- 
low it. It was a circumstance highly advantageous to 
the poetical character of Charles Wesley, that his com- 
positions were submitted to the keen and discriminating 
eye of his brother John, and that from the whole was 
formed that admirable selection which is found in the 
general Hymn-book. For, on examining the entire 
mass, it will appear that those hymns and verses which 
were omitted, were, with few exceptions, much inferior 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 15 

to those which were taken ; and that we have in that 
publication the best and choicest portions of the whole. 
Had the excellent Watts possessed some friend, who 
would have acted in a similar way toward him, by se- 
lecting, abridging, and retrenching, from the entire mass 
of his sacred poetry, and would have published this 
residuum only, that eminent man might have appeared 
to greater advantage as a Christian poet. There are 
many of Watts's compositions so meagre, so barren in 
poetic beauty, so destitute of dignity, that were these 
the only specimens of his ability, we might doubt whe- 
ther he ought to be numbered among poets at all. But, 
on the other hand, it must be allowed, that some of his 
compositions possess high degrees of excellence and 
merit. Those of Watts's psalms and hymns that are em- 
bodied in the Wesleyan collection are the best that he 
ever wrote. Had he written no others, his name would 
have been immortalized among the lovers of sacred 
poetry, and his rank among Christian poets would have 
been as high as it now is. 

" Some may be disposed to inquire how it is, that the 
high claims of Charles Wesley, as a writer of sacred 
verse, have been so generally overlooked, and that his 
compositions are so little known beyond the pale of the 
Methodist societies and congregations. Various causes, 
undoubtedly, have concurred to produce this effect. 
That they who are strangers to inward and experimental 
religion, should not relish or admire such works, is just 
what might be expected. These hymns are full of 
religion ; every sentiment is most decidedly edifying 
and devout. There is nothing to gratify a carnal taste ; 
nothing to encourage pride, self-esteem, love of worldly 
honor and applause ; nothing to meet the feelings of 



16 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

those who are desirous of sensual pleasures and in- 
dulgences ; and nothing adapted to the views of those 
who would reduce religion to a mere set of opinions, 
and a round of external observances. They who reject 
all that constitutes the life, and power, and essence of 
inward religion, will, of course, reject a book which 
everywhere assumes the supreme importance and the 
absolute necessity of that experience, to which they 
know, themselves to be total strangers. The depravity 
of our fallen nature, the carnality of the mind, and our 
consequent aversion to the heart-searching and hum- 
bling truths of Holy Scripture, will fully account for the 
neglect and dislike of these hymns among man}'. 

" That these hymns have been greatly undervalued by 
others, may be attributed to Calvinistic prejudices. 
They who in their theological views adopt a larger or 
smaller proportion of the peculiarities of Calvinism, will, 
of course, seek for hymns written by persons of their 
own sentiments : and this, unquestionably, is one prin- 
cipal reason why, by many, the hymns of Watts, 
Doddridge, Toplady, Hart, and Newton, are preferred 
to those of Wesley. Had Charles Wesley been a Cal- 
vinist, and had he, with precisely the same degree of 
poetical talent and skill, interspersed a little Calvinian 
theology throughout his hymns, they would, no doubt, 
have been lauded and prized most highly among the 
Independents, the Baptists, and all classes of evangelical 
non-conformists ; and ere this time if Watts, Doddridge, 
Hart, and similar writers, had not been excluded from 
their sanctuaries, at any rate Wesley would have taken 
the precedence of them all, and would have stood first 
on their list. And among the pious ministers and mem- 
bers of the Church of England, some, in consequence 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 17 

of their Calvinistic predilections, and others, through a 
fear of receiving or sanctioning anything that is not 
stamped with the approbation and recommended by the 
authority of prelates and convocations, royal declara- 
tions and acts of parliament, have remained insensible 
to the merits of Charles Wesley's sacred poetry." 

But the church is waking up to the claims of her 
poet, and the literary world is beginning to appreciate 
his merits. James Montgomery, himself one of Eng- 
land's noblest poets, in his Lectures on Poetry, Gene- 
ral Literature, &c. — a work which has become a part of 
the standard literature of the age — has made honorable 
mention of Charles Wesley as a poet ; as he has also 
done in two other works, namely, the Christian Poet 
and the Christian Psalmist. In the last-mentioned 
work he speaks of him thus : " Christian experience, 
from the deeps of afflictions, through all the gradations 
of doubt, fear, desire, faith, hope, expectation, to the 
transports of perfect love, in the very beams of the 
beatific vision ; Christian experience furnishes him with 
everlasting and inexhaustible themes : and it must be 
confessed that he has celebrated them with an affluence 
of diction, and a splendor of coloring, rarely surpassed. 
At the same time he has invested them with a power 
of truth, and endeared them both to the imagination 
and affections, with a pathos which makes feeling con- 
viction, and leaves the understanding little to do, but to 
acquiesce in the decisions of the heart. As the poet of 
Methodism, he has sung the doctrines of the gospel as 
they are expounded among that people, dwelling espe- 
cially on the personal appropriation of the words of 
eternal life to the sinner, or the saint, as the test of his 
actual state before God, and admitting nothing less 



18 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

than the full assurance of faith as the privilege of be- 
lievers : 

' Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, 
Relies on that alone, 
Laughs at impossibilities, 

And says, " It shall be done." 
' Faith lends her realizing light ; 

The clouds disperse, the shadows fly, 
The Invisible appears in sight, 
And God is seen by mortal eye.' 

" These are glimpses of our author's manner : broad 
indeed, and awful, but singularly illustrative ; like light- 
ning out of darkness, revealing for a moment the whole 
hemisphere." 

This beautiful extract, while it does justice to Charles 
Wesley, is creditable to Montgomery, as the opinion of 
the greatest living English poet, and the most compe- 
tent person to appreciate the merits, and describe the 
true character, of C. Wesley as a poet ; and, whatever 
others may say to the contrary, the sentiments here 
recorded wall hereafter be the standard by which his 
poetry must be estimated. 

loljn tiksUg. 

The first poetical productions of John and Charles 
Wesley w r ere published jointly, but without any means 
of distinguishing between them. The Rev. Samuel 
Bradburn, the intimate friend and companion of Mr. 
John Wesley, says : "He had a fine taste for poetry, 
and composed himself many of our hymns ; but he told 
me, that he and his brother agreed not to distinguish 
their hymns from each other." This is an exceedingly 
interesting fact, and one which, we think, none of Mr. 



METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 19 

Wesley's biographers have noticed. It is evident, how- 
ever, that it refers only to such of their compositions as 
were published together in the same volume; for 
Charles Wesley published several volumes of hymns 
and poems in his name alone, which were thus authen- 
ticated to be his own. But most of their tracts, and 
some volumes of hymns, were published without either 
of their names, which may be accounted for by the 
circumstance related by Mr. Bradburn ; although it is 
well known that much the larger proportion of hymns 
were written by Charles. This fact is stated in the 
preface to the English Hymn-book ; but the mystery 
involving the authorship of some hymns will ever be 
matter of regret to the admirers of the brother bards : 
but at the same time it will form a lasting memorial of 
their indissoluble friendship. " Lovely in life, in death 
not divided," is a sentiment perhaps never more aptly 
applied than to these incomparable men. 

There were in all the earlier poetical publications of 
the Wesleys a number of translations from the German. 
To ascertain satisfactorily the authorship of these com- 
posures has been the anxious desire of some of the 
most eminent and learned writers of the Wesleyan 
Methodist Church ; among whom, as the most promi- 
nent, may be named Mr. Watson and Mr. Jackson. 
These gentlemen have both recorded their sentiments 
upon the subject, but they differ in opinion ; hence the 
point, by some, is considered not only unsettled, but 
having been left undetermined by the brothers them- 
selves, must remain for ever doubtful. And when such 
minds as those above referred to, in their search after 
truth, have failed to arrive at a coincidence of opinion, 
well may those of an inferior mold hesitate ere they 



20 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

venture to decide. Mr. Jackson, in his Life of Charles 
Wesley, attributes the translations to John Wesley; 
while Mr. Watson, in his biography of the latter, 
ascribes thern to Charles Wesley. 

Before entering upon an enumeration and examina- 
tion of the different poetical works of the two brothers, 
it will be necessary to notice in a preliminary way, and 
to settle, if possible, the question involved in this con- 
troversy, namely : " Who teas the translator of the 
hymns from the Germ- 

As this is a highly interesting and important ques- 
tion, it is proper, in an attempt to elucidate it, that the 
arguments, pro and eon, should be fairly exhibited. 
We shall therefore quote from the sixth English edition 
of Watson's Life of John Wesley, part of his long and 
valuable note, which occurs in the fourteenth chapter, 
on the subject of Wesleyan poetry. These remarks, 
not being found in the American edition of the work, 
are of course not familiar to American readers, and, on 
that account, will prove the more acceptable. " How 
many," says Mr. Watson, "of the above-mentioned 
translations from the German were from the pen of 
John, and how many were by Charles, will never now 
probably be ascertained, since they appear chiefly in 
books published in their joint names. Some have, 
indeed, attributed the whole of the translations from 
the German to John, as supposing that Charles did not 
well understand the German. But of this we have no 
decisive evidence ; and even were it so, he might turn 
the ruder translations in the Moravian Hymn-book, which 
are generally very literal, into his own superior verse : 
or the sense of any hymn might be given by his brother. 
Certainly there is internal evidence in many of the 



METHODIST HYMNOLOOY. 21 

translations from the German, published by the Wes- 
leys, of Charles's manner. John's versions are gene- 
rally more polished and elegant ; Charles had more 
fire, and was more careless. Miss Wesley, indeed, in 
a note on page 597, vol. vii, American edition of Wes- 
ley's Works, is said by the editor to have been of 
opinion, that the translated hymns, when from the 
German, were all from the pen of her uncle : but they 
had long been published before she was born ; and she 
always spoke on the subject as a matter of opinion, and 
not as grounded on any explicit information which she 
had ever sought, or had ever received, from her father." 
, This extract contains the gist of the argument in 
favor of C. Wesley's claims to the authorship of the 
translations from the German ; but it will be observed 
that Mr. Watson admits some of them to be the work 
of his brother, though he thinks the exact number will 
never be ascertained. In the first edition of his bio- 
graphy of John Wesley, which was republished in this 
country by the Book Concern at New- York, Mr. Wat- 
son claims all the translations for Charles ; and the 
extract quoted above was introduced in a subsequent 
edition of the work. This fact proves that the author's 
mind had undergone some change, although he still 
thought he saw in some of the translations certain 
"internal evidence of Charles's manner." 

Mr. Jackson seems to have rested his belief, in favor 
of John Wesley, upon the circumstances stated by Mr. 
Watson, namely, the information he received from the 
daughter of Charles, that the translations were made 
by her uncle, and not by her father ; and the well- 
known fact that John Wesley was conversant with the 
German language, while Charles was not. These ob- 



22 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

jections Mr. Watson has attempted to answer, but 
certainly not in a manner to preclude all doubt upon 
the subject. 

Mr. Burgess — whose natural and literary endowments 
are of the highest order, and who has, perhaps, examined 
the question as thoroughly, and written as extensively 
upon the subject of Wesleyan hymnology, as any other 
person — takes the same view as Mr. Jackson. After 
noticing the facts above stated, he says, " Probably Mr. 
Watson is quite correct in stating, that John's versions 
are generally more polished and elegant ; Charles had 
more fire and was more careless. And yet that even 
John, with all his characteristic calmness and sobriety, 
could sometimes feel and manifest something of poetic 
fire, is evident from the last two verses of the hymn 
[548, our Hymn-book] which is universally allowed 
to have been written by him. These two verses, espe- 
cially, are in a very lively, spirited, and impassioned 
strain ; and conclude with the wish often expressed in 
the compositions of his brother Charles, that he might 
at once escape from the toils and sufferings of this life, 
and be admitted into the paradise of God. Mr. Wat- 
son thinks that we have no decisive evidence that the 
translations were all made by John. On that point the 
present writer takes leave to differ from the great and 
good man." 

Mr. Burgess then notices the " decisive evidence" 
which John Wesley's journals furnish, that he was ac- 
quainted with the German, and that while in Georgia, 
he read, sung, and preached, in that language — his visit 
to Herrnhut, in 1138, where he not only heard some 
of the most eminent ministers preach, but also con- 
versed freely with them in German — and remarks, " We 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 23 

have no evidence at all that Charles Wesley ever studied 
the German language, or that he ever read or under- 
stood any work written therein." After mentioning the 
fact intimated above, that all the hymns from the Ger- 
man appeared in the earlier works of the two brothers, 
when John was undoubtedly familiar with the language, 
that is, during the years 1739, 1740, and 1742, he 
proceeds thus : — 

* In his sermon, On knowing Christ after the Flesh, 
Mr. Wesley, speaking of the Moravians, twenty-six in 
number, whom he met with in his voyage to America, 
says, 'We not only contracted much esteem, but a 
strong affection, for them on all occasions. / translated 
many of their hymns for the use of our own congrega- 
tions. Indeed, as I durst not implicitly follow any 
man, I did not take all that lay before me, but selected 
those which I judged to be most Scriptural, and most 
suitable to sound experience. Yet I am not sure that 
I have taken sufficient care to pare off every improper 
word or expression.' Now, Mr. Wesley frequently 
speaks of his brother's hymns, and his brother's poetry ; 
and in referring to the various poetical publications 
which had appeared among the Methodists, he is al- 
ways careful to associate his brother with himself. 
And if Charles Wesley had had any part in translating 
the German hymns, John Wesley's candor, accuracy, 
and regard for truth, would have prompted him to say 
so, and his language would have been, 'My brother and 
I translated many of their hymns. As we durst not im- 
plicitly follow any man, we did not take all that lay before 
us/ &c. But here he uses the singular number exclu- 
sively, and speaks of himself alone as being concerned 
in translating, judging, selecting, and paring off impro- 



24 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

per expressions. Taken in connection with all the facts 
and circumstances of the case, the above-quoted passage 
of the sermon appears to furnish sufficient and con- 
clusive evidence, that the hymns from the German 
were all translated by John Wesley, not by Charles." 

The above extracts are made because of their import- 
ance, and as containing the most comprehensive and 
correct survey yet taken of the subject ; and also, be- 
cause the work quoted, not having been republished in 
this country, cannot be consulted by the interested 
reader. The writer has recently received a letter from 
Mr. Burgess, in which he refers to the point now under 
consideration, in the following manner: "I think I 
have proved (Hymnology, page 38, &c.) that Mr. Wat- 
son is wrong in ascribing some of the translations from 
the German to Charles Wesley. It is the opinion of 
some competent judges, that what I have there written 
has set that question at rest, and that henceforward it 
will be regarded as a settled point, that all translations 
from the German were made by John Wesley." 

As it will be pertinent to the subject in hand, it may 
not be improper here to insert an extract from a letter 
written in reply to that from which the above quota- 
tion was taken. " In the year 1844, 1 published in the 
Christian Advocate and Journal, of New- York, three 
articles on the Methodist Hymn-book. In my third 
article occur the following remarks : As to the ques- 
tion, who was the translator of the German hymns ? 
I have to say, in addition to what I have already 
affirmed, that Mr. Watson admits that John Wesley- 
made some of the translations, and Dr. Jackson, that he 
made all of them. And Mr. Wesley himself says, " I 
translated many of their [Moravian] hymns for the use 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 25 

of our own congregations. Indeed, as I durst not im- 
plicitly follow any man, I did not take all that lay be- 
fore me, but selected those which I judged to be most 
Scriptural, and most suitable to sound experience.' ' 
This declaration, I think, should end the controversy, 
especially as the advocates of Charles Wesley, with 
Mr. Watson at their head, have no stronger evidence to 
urge in his favor, than the " internal evidence" by which 
his translations distinguished themselves.' I had pre- 
viously referred to Mr. Wesley's Plain Account of 
Christian Perfection, where he says he wrote the 
hymn, — 

' Thou hidden love of God, whose height, 1 &c, 

while he was at Savannah, in 1736 ; and this hymn is 
a translation from the German of Gerhard Tersteegen. 
So, you perceive, there is a remarkable coincidence be- 
tween our views ; but yours are far the more ably and 
elegantly expressed, and while I award you the meed 
of having settled the question in England, I humbly 
claim precedence of having done the same thing in 
America, which, I believe, is generally acknowledged 
by those who take an interest in the matter, in this 
country." 

It may be furthermore remarked, that the views here 
educed receive some confirmation from an observation 
of Mr. John Wesley, in the preface to his " Collection of 
Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists." 
He says, " As but a small part of these hymns is of my 
own composing, I do not think it inconsistent with 
modesty to declare, that I am persuaded no such Hymn- 
book as this has yet been published in the English lan- 
guage." Here is a plain declaration, that but a " small 
part" of the hymns in the Wesleyan Hymn-book were 
2 



26 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

composed by John Wesley ; for he tells us so himself, 
Now, if it can be ascertained, to a tolerable certainty, 
what hymns were written by Charles Wesley, and 
others, the inference then is fair, that the balance com- 
prise the " small part" which were composed by John 
Wesley. There are in the Wesleyan Hymn-book, in- 
cluding the Supplement, 1 TO hymns, 623 of which are 
the productions of "the sanctified talent of Charles 
Wesley;" 11 V are attributed to other authors, leaving 
about 30 hymns unaccounted for, 24 of which are trans- 
lations from the German. These 30 we ascribe to 
John Wesley. Now, we think the most squeamish 
stickler for grammatical or philological accuracy, will 
admit that 30 in comparison with 110, or even 561 — 
this being the number of hymns exclusive of the Sup- 
plement — may with perfect fairness be considered only 
"a small part:" hence we infer that all the translations 
from the German were made by John Wesley. 

Samuel tDwleg, Sen., 

Rector of Epworth, and father of the founder of 
Methodism, though the author of but one hymn in our 
collection, deserves a prominent place among our list 
of hymnologists. His character as an author and poet, 
and his relationship to John and Charles Wesley, alike 
justify the position we have here given him. His prin- 
cipal works are, "The Life of our Blessed Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ ; a Heroic Poem, in ten Books ;" 
" The History of the Old and New Testament, attempted 
in Verse, and adorned with three hundred and thirty 
Sculptures;" "The Pious Communicant rightly pre- 
pared; or a Discourse concerning the Blessed Sacra- 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 27 

ment;" and a Commentary on the Book of Job, in 
Latin. Mr. Wesley was also a great controversialist, 
and wrote several tracts against the Dissenters, which 
afterward proved the cause of much annoyance and 
trouble to him. Of his poems, that which has given 
him the greatest reputation, is entitled, "Eupolis his 
Hymn to the Creator." Dr. Clarke, in his Wesley 
Family, speaks in high terms of praise of this compo- 
sition, and has republished it in that work with very 
copious and learned notes. 

Samuel Wesley, Jun., wrote a poem upon his father, 
in which he alludes to his parent's poetical works ; the 
History of the New Testament in verse having been 
severely censured by a writer named Brown : — 

" Nor yet unmention'd shall in silence lie 
His slighted and derided poetry ; 
Should Brown revile, or Swift my song despise, 
Should other Garths, and other legions rise : 
Whate'er his strains, still glorious was his end, 
Faith to assert, and virtue to defend. 
He sung how God the Saviour deign'd t' expire, 
With Vida's piety, though not his fire. 
Deduced his Maker's praise from age to age, 
Tlirough the long annals of the sacred page ; 
Not cursed like syren Dryden to excel, 
Who strew'd with flow'rets fair the road to hell ; 
With atheist doctrines loosest morals join'd, 
To rot the body, and to damn the mind. 

# # ' * # * =* 

Though not inglorious was the poet's fate, 
Liked and rewarded by the good and great ; 
For gracious smiles not pious Anne denied, 
And beauteous Mary bless'd him when she died." 



METHODIST IIYMNOLOGY. 



Samud tOsskg, lun. 

This excellent poet was the elder brother of John and 
Charles Wesley ; both of whom, to some extent, were 
indebted to him for their support while pursuing their 
studies at Oxford. Dr. Clarke, who calls him an " emi- 
nent man," writes of him thus : — " It is said of Mr. 
Samuel Wesley, by those who knew him well, that ' he 
possessed an open, benevolent temper, which he had 
from nature, which he had so cultivated on principle, 
and was so intent upon it as a duty to help everybody as 
he could, that the number and continual success of his 
good offices were astonishing even to his friends, who 
saw with what pleasure and zeal he did them ; and he 
was an instance how exceedingly serviceable in life a 
person of a very inferior station may be, who sets his 
heart upon it. As his diligence on such occasions was 
never tired out, so he had a singular address and dex- 
terity in soliciting them. His own little income was 
liberally made use of; and as his acquaintance whom 
he applied to were always confident of his care and 
integrity, he never wanted means to carry on his 
good purposes ; so that his life was a series of useful 
charity.' 

" Mr. Wesley's wit was keen, and his sense strong. 
As a poet, he stands entitled to a very distinguished 
niche in the temple of Fame ; and it has long appeared 
to me strange that his poetical works have not found a 
place either in Johnson's, Anderson's, or Chalmers' col- 
lection of the British poets. To say that those collect- 
ors did not think them entitled to a place there, would 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 29 

be a gross reflection on their judgment ; as in the last 
and best collection, consisting of one hundred and 
twenty-seven poets, it would be easy to prove that 
Samuel Wesley is equal to most, and certainly superior 
to one-half, of that number. But the name ! the name 
would have scared many superficial and fantastic read- 
ers, as they would have been sadly afraid of meeting in 
some corner or other with Methodism, which is so inti- 
mately connected with the name of Wesley. With 
multitudes, a name is the omen of good or bad luck, 
according to their fancies or prepossessions. 

" But though he has not been brought before the public 
in any of the above collections, it must not be forgotten 
that Dr. Johnson has given a quotation from him in the 
grammar prefixed to his dictionary as the best specimen 
of that kind of poetry to which he refers. The lines 
are generally known ; but many are ignorant of their 
author. 

EPITAPH ON AN INFANT. 

Beneath, a sleeping infant lies, 

To earth whose ashes lent, 
More glorious shall hereafter rise, 

Though not more innocent. 
When the archangel's trump shall blow, 

And souls to bodies join, 
What crowds will wish their lives below 

Had been as short as thine ! 

"The truth and beauty of these lines will be felt as 
well as seen ; therefore every one is a judge of their 
merit. Mr. Southey, too, in his ' Specimens of the 
later English Poets,' published in 1807, has noticed 
him, and given us specimens of his poetical productions." 



30 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Besides those in the Hymn-book, Mr. Wesley is the 
author of the following fine hymns : 

" From whence these dire portents around ?" &c. 
" The Sun of righteousness appears," &c. 
" Hail, God the Son, in glory crown'd !" &c. 
" Hail, Holy Ghost ! Jehovah ! third," &c. 
" Hail, holy, holy, holy Lord ! 

Be endless praise to thee," &c. 



Dr. 3saat tDatts. 

Next to Charles Wesley, the Methodists are indebted 
to Dr. Watts for the number of excellent hymns he has 
contributed to their standard collection ; there being in 
that work no less than sixty-eight hymns of his com- 
posing, besides several others which are his in part. 
As it would be impossible for the writer adequately to 
portray his character as a sacred poet, or to describe 
properly the peculiar merits of his hymns, so it would 
be impertinent to attempt the task, especially as it has 
been done so well by abler heads and hands. There- 
fore let Montgomery, the friend of Watts and of Wesley, 
though in communion with neither, speak his praise ; 
and if he should seem to give the palm to Watts, let 
us not be offended, while, as the admirers and followers 
of Wesley, we hold to a different opinion. 

" Passing by " (says Montgomery, in his Christian 
Psalmist) " Mrs. Rowe, and the mystical rhymes of her 
age, we come to the greatest name among hymn-writers : 
for we hesitate not to give that praise to Dr. Isaac 
Watts. * * * In his ' Psalms and Hymns,' (for 
they must be classed together,) he has embraced a 
compass and variety of subjects, which include and 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 31 

illustrate every truth of revelation ; throw light upon 
every secret movement of the human heart, whether of 
sin, nature, or grace ; and describe every kind of trial, 
temptation, conflict, doubt, fear, and grief ; as well as 
the faith, hope, charity, the love, joy, peace, labor, and 
patience, of the Christian, in all stages of his course on 
earth ; together with the terrors of the Lord, the glories 
of the Redeemer, and the comforts of the Holy Spirit, 
to urge, allure, and strengthen him, by the way. There 
is in the pages of this evangelist a word in season for 
every one who needs it, in whatever circumstances he 
may require counsel, consolation, reproof, or instruc- 
tion. We say this, without reserve, of the materials of 
his hymns : had their execution always been correspond- 
ent with the preciousness of these, we should have had 
a * Christian Psalmist ' in England, next (and that only 
in date, not in dignity) to the ' sweet singer of Israel/ 
2STor is this so bold a word as it may seem. Dr. Watts's 
hymns are full of ' the glorious gospel of the blessed 
God ;' his themes, therefore, are as much more illus- 
trious than those of the son of Jesse, who only knew 
the 'power and glory' of Jehovah as he had 'seen 
them in the sanctuary,' which was but the shadow of 
the New Testament church — as the face of Moses, 
holding communion with God, was brighter than the 
veil which he cast over it when conversing with his 
countrymen. 

" Dr. Watts may almost be called the inventor of 
hymns in our language ; for he so far departed from 
all precedent, that few of his compositions resemble 
those of his forerunners : while he so far established a 
precedent to all his successors, that none have departed 
from it, otherwise than as according to the peculiar 



32 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

turn of mind in the writer, and the style of expressing 
Christian truths employed by the denomination to which 
he belonged." 

While Ins learned biographer, Milner, contends with 
Montgomery for the first place among hymn writers 
for Watts, and quotes the above extracts in support of 
his position, he is by no means blind to at least some 
of his favorite's defects. " With all my partiality for 
Watts," says he, "asa writer of religious song, I am 
not insensible to the defective tone and expression of 
some of his hymns, which betray, more indeed in 
phraseology than in spirit, the neighborhood of a hyper- 
Calvinistic school. The theology of his day was of a 
somewhat different mold to that embraced at the pre- 
sent by the majority of the dissenting churches : it had 
sterner features, and, at the same time, those which 
were more timid; it spoke in severer accents to the 
sinner, and in a more glowing and mystic style to the 
saint ; it delighted too much in presenting to the one 
elements of gathering wrath, without a shelter from the 
storm, and in pampering the other with the gay and 
ardent fancies of impassioned eastern poetry. The Cal- 
vinism of Watts was of the moderate kind at the close 
of his career, so much so as to subject him to the 
charge of Baxterianism ; yet still I am by no means 
certain but that his connection with Dr. Chauncey, a 
divine of the Crispian stamp, might give a coloring to 
his creed in early life. It would be an unprofitable 
task to particularize the luscious phrases which savor 
of the school — phrases which might easily be altered, 
and which assuredly ought to have been long ago ; 
which, to a mind like Watts's, will bespeak only the 
triumph of holy love, but which are apt to convey to 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 33 

unhallowed imaginations a licentious image, and thus 
degrade the Christian's fellowship with his Redeemer, 
by an association with terms indicative of human fond- 
ness and familiarity. The ardency of pious affection is, 
indeed, apt to express itself in the language of animal 
passion. The heart in communion with God will not 
stay to take the guage of a fastidious delicacy before it 
gives utterance to its desires ; but it by no means fol- 
lows, that what is proper for the closet is adapted for 
the sanctuary. There is another fault which may be 
charged upon some of Watts's compositions, of an 
opposite character, but which proceeded from the same 
cause as the one just noticed. There is too little of 
that sweet persuasiveness, that melting tenderness, in 
which the gospel addresses the sinner; while harsh 
expressions occur, breathing a spirit of vindictiveness, 
which unquestionably does not harmonize with the cha- 
racter of that God who delights in mercy, and which 
borders upon downright impiety to offer up in praise 
to him. It would be a boon to the dissenting congrega- 
tions, if some one, of kindred spirit and competent ability, 
(and such a one doubtless might be found,) would give 
his hymns the benefit of a careful correction and revision. 
The productions of Charles Wesley have been revised and 
expurgated, and re-revised ; and the memory and claims 
of Watts imperatively demand a similar service." 

Nearly every one of Watts's hymns in the Methodist 
Hymn-book has been subjected to just such a "cor- 
rection and revision," as Mr. Milner had sagacity enough 
to see they required, notwithstanding their high degree 
of excellence ; and that, too, by no less a personage 
than the same who " revised, and expurgated, and re- 
revised," the productions of Charles Wesley. It may 
2* 



34 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

be safely affirmed that there never was a person who 
possessed a nicer taste and discrimination, in that de- 
partment of sacred poetry intended for devotional 
purposes, than Mr. John Wesley ; and it is admitted 
by all who have expressed an opinion upon the subject, 
that his brother's hymns have been greatly improved 
by passing through his hands. And Mr. Milner him- 
self has acknowledged that several of Dr. Watts's 
compositions are also indebted to the same source for 
their peculiar beauty of diction and strength of ex- 
pression. It will be quite in place here to point out 
some of these corrections and improvements. But it 
may appear unreasonable that Mr. Wesley, after cau- 
tioning those who might reprint his and his brother's 
hymns, against all attempts to alter them, should him- 
self alter the hymns of others. To a charge of this 
kind, we would reply, in the words of Mr. Burgess, (to 
whose interesting work it affords the writer real plea- 
sure frequently to allude,) that " among all those, who 
in their collections have made free with Wesley's hymns, 
perhaps there has not been one, with the exception of 
Montgomery, whose poetical taste and judgment could 
be considered anything like on a par with those of John 
Wesley." 

If the original hymns be compared with the hymns 
as altered by Wesley, it will be found that the altera- 
tions seldom or never affect the sentiment, but merely 
the language, which is made more chaste, elegant, and 
poetical ; and the alterations must be pronounced 
decided improvements. The following are specimens : — 
Watts's original. 
" Run up with joy the shining way, 
To embrace my dearest Lord." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGT. 35 

Altered by Wesley. 
" Run up with joy the shining way, 
To see and praise my Lord." 

Walls's original. 
" Nations, attend before his throne, 

With solemn fear, with sacred joy." 

Altered by Wesley. 
" Before Jehovah's awful throne, 

Ye nations, bow with sacred joy." 

Watts's original. 
" The God that rules on high, 
And thunders when he please, 
That rides upon the stormy sky, 
And manages the seas." 

Altered by Wesley. 
" The God that rules on high, 
That all the earth surveys, 
That rides upon the stormy sky, 
And calms the roaring seas." 

Watts's original. 

" He dies, the heavenly Lover dies ; 

The tidings strike a doleful sound 

On my poor heart-strings : deep he lies 

In the cold caverns of the ground." 

Altered by Wesley. 
" He dies, the Friend of sinners dies ! 

Lo ! Salem's daughters weep around ! 
A solemn darkness veils the skies ; 

A sudden trembling shakes the ground," 

Watts's original. 
" Look how we grovel here below, 
Fond of these trifling toys ; 
Our souls can neither fly nor go 
To reach eternal joys." 



36 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Altered by Wesley. 

" Look how we grovel here below, 

Fond of these earthly toys ; 

Our souls how heavily they go, 

To reach eternal joys." 

Mr. Milner, in an extended review of Watts's poetry, 
in which he endeavors to estimate the relative merit of 
Watts and Wesley, as poets, — the two greatest hymn- 
ists, says he, " undoubtedly that our country can boast," 
— endeavors, but evidently not altogether even to his 
own satisfaction, to make it appear, as above inti- 
mated, that Watts is the greater of the two. One of 
whose "principal excellences" is said to be "the va- 
riety of his powers ;" but which " excellence," of course, 
would not be so apparent were it not brought into 
favorable contrast with the " little variety of manner, 
and less variety of matter" — principal defects! — of the 
" far greater mass of religious poetry " of Charles Wes- 
ley. Mr. Milner has undoubtedly ventured this judg- 
ment upon his hymns, in utter ignorance of the charac- 
ter of the "far greater mass" of Mr. Wesley's poetry ; 
and he has very probably drawn his opinion from — 
which of themselves should have produced a different 
judgment — merely such of his hymns as are in general 
use among the Wesleyans. It is true, he tells us the 
poetical productions of Charles Wesley " are said to 
amount to forty -eight distinct publications," but he does 
not inform us that he has seen or examined any of 
them ; or his regard for truth, we may charitably con- 
clude, would never have suffered his partiality for his 
favorite so to prejudice his mind as to allow him to 
pen the following remarks, which certainly have not 
their foundation in fact. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 37 

" Many," says Milner, " of Charles Wesley's pieces 
wear the exclusive aspect of the sectarian ; he casts his 
mite into the treasury of a party ; he writes as the 
' poet of Methodism,' not as the servant of the univer- 
sal church. The paucity of his topics produces frequent 
repetition — a tiresome amplification of the same thought 
and theme ; and though this may be regarded as an ex- 
cellency or a defect, according as the religious opinions 
of his critic agree or differ from him, there can be no 
question that the amount of genius requisite for the 
composition of such hymns was far less than that 
which "Watts brought and employed in his task." We 
again affirm, and do it without the least hesitation or 
reservation, that the above sentiments, as far as they 
refer to the "paucity of topics" exhibited in Charles 
Wesley's poetry, have their origin in ignorance — per- 
haps it ought to be said, want of information — or, 
in unconquerable prejudice. Has Watts paraphrased 
nearly the whole book of Psalms ? so has Wesley. Are 
most of Watts's hymns founded upon portions of the 
sacred Scriptures ? Wesley's, to use the language of 
Montgomery, " make the whole tour of Bible literature." 
Hence, as they both have drawn their inspiration, sub- 
jects, and matter, from the same sacred sources, and 
Wesley being the more prolific writer, it is fair to con- 
clude, even without a critical examination of their 
works, that an equal, if not a greater, " variety of 
topics " should characterize Wesley's hymns. But 
while Wesley, on the one hand, has devoted a whole 
volume to a single subject, as his "Hymns on the 
Trinity " and the " Lord's Supper," which certainly does 
not betray either a want of genius, or only a small 
amount of genius ; so, on the other hand, some of his 



38 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

volumes scarcely contain two compositions upon the 
same subject, as his " Family Hymns," and " Hymns 
of Intercession for all Mankind," which unquestionably 
demonstrates a genius of the very highest powers, and 
of almost universal application. The man, perhaps, is 
yet unborn who is properly and fully to estimate and 
portray the abilities of Charles Wesley as an English 
poet ; but there need be no fears that such a person 
never will be born. 

It is really amusing, though hardly edifying, to see 
with what tenacity our author pursues the " poet of a 
party" — as he has been pleased, rather illiberally, to 
designate Watts's Arminian rival — challenging and con- 
testing his claims to all those virtues with which he would 
invest his favorite. Kot only are Watts's excellences 
magnified when brought into juxtaposition with Wes- 
ley's defects, but even an excuse — satisfactory, of 
course — for Watts's faults may be educed from a com- 
parison of the circumstances under which the poets re- 
spectively wrote. Hear Milner : 

" The faulty versification and inelegant construction 
of some of Watts's hymns, which have been pointed out 
as their principal defects, would never have occurred 
had they been written under the same circumstances as 
those of his Arminian successor. The former wrote 
principally in his youth, the latter in the full vigor of 
ripened manhood ; to the former hymnic composition 
was an occasional recreation, to the latter, at one period, 
it was his chief employment. It is well known that 
Mr. C. Wesley desisted from his itinerant ministry, and 
abandoned the fatiguing journeys of his brother, for an 
ultimate residence in London and Bristol — the conse- 
quence of indolence, say some : a just appreciation of 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 39 

his own powers, say others. A considerable portion of 
his time was now devoted to poetical enterprise, to 
which he sedulously directed his talents ; he measured 
the object before him, in its height, and length, and 
depth, and breadth, and carefully trained and disci- 
plined his spirit for his task : 

' His soul was like a star, and dwelt apart.' 

" But it was otherwise with Watts : none of those 
who had preceded him in this species of writing had 
attained any excellence so as to stimulate his genius and 
call forth his powers ; the hymns in use were so miser- 
ably defective, and the task of surpassing them so easy, 
that he did not generally 'gird up the loins of his 
mind.' This is to be lamented as the occasion of all his 
blemishes in composition. There is, however, far less 
appearance of effort in his hymns than in Wesley's ; 
they are less strained and artificial, and bear in a higher 
degree the stamp of being the spontaneous effusions of 
devotional feeling." 

There is another paragraph I must introduce, where- 
in Watts's biographer has attempted to sketch the rela- 
tive characteristics of some of the principal hymn 
writers, in which he has evidently taken his cue from 
Montgomery ; and it must be admitted, that, next to the 
Moravian bard, no author, without the pail of Method- 
ism, has treated Charles Wesley with more fairness 
than Milner. 

" Many laborers," says he, "have indeed since appear- 
ed in the field, some of undoubted talent, and all have 
trod in his [Watts's] steps ; }^et his sacred songs remain, 
as a whole, unsurpassed and unequaled, and are far more 
generally used in the services of the church than those 
of any of his successors. Charles Wesley approaches 



40 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

the nearest to him, but must yield the palm for origin- 
ality, catholicity, and versatility of genius. Doddridge's 
hymns are distinguished by their unaffected piety and 
engaging sweetness, but are often faulty in their poetry, 
and disfigured by a formal rhetoric. Newton's compo- 
sitions are clear and evangelical in their sentiments ; but 
prosaic, sometimes wretched in their construction, and, 
besides, unfit for congregational use. Cowper's mighty, 
yet sorely crossed and troubled spirit, produced some 
hymns in the sunshine of his day, which delightfully 
embody the experience of the Christian heart; some 
also of high and solemn character, written in 'the twi- 
light of departing reason,' on the verge of ' blackness 
of darkness.' Toplady, with all his churlishness, has 
struck off tones from David's harp, not inferior in vigor 
and musical intonation to any of his compeers. Bed- 
dome's humble and unpretending verse, barren in poe- 
try, will yet remain, for its instructive metrical apho- 
risms, a lasting blessing to the families of the righteous. 
Heber's performances have probably been admired 
more, and deserve it less, than any of the preceding ; 
for though arrayed in the ' purple and fine linen' of 
glittering diction, they are poor in thought and defec- 
tive in spirituality. These, and many others whose 
names have perished, but whose contributions to the 
treasury of devotion have been preserved, have follow- 
ed in the track of the nonconformist — their pattern and 
their guide." 

The above extract is not given because of a belief in 
all its sentiments, but on account of its appositeness to 
the subject in hand. Perhaps while full justice has 
not been awarded to Wesley and Heber, an undue 
amount of praise has been bestowed upon Toplady; 



METHODIST HYMNOLO£Y. 41 

but, on the whole, the criticisms may be deemed judi- 
cious. In fairness, however, both to Charles Wesley 
and Watts's biographer, as well as to gratify the reader, 
another remark of Mr. Milner in reference to the rela- 
tive excellences of Watts and Wesley must be noticed. 
" In estimating," says he, " the merits of these two great 
hymnists — the greatest unquestionably that our country 
can boast — I should not hesitate to ascribe to the former 
greater skill in design, to the latter in execution ; to the 
former more originality, to the latter more polish. 
Many of Wesley's nights are bold, daring, and magni- 
ficent. The spirit of the righteous man, resting secure 
amid the conflagration of nature's elements, and ' clap- 
ping' its ' wings of fire,' is a vision of surpassing gran- 
deur, though the honor of the suggestion is, perhaps, 
due to Dr. Young." 

This certainly is as much as could be expected for 
Wesley, in a review written expressly in support of Dr. 
Watts's claims to " the highest place among the hymn- 
ists of our land." This high claim, so far as it relates 
to his " Divine Songs for Children," we have no dispo- 
sition to question, but rather incline to the opinion of 
Montgomery, and " give that praise to Dr. Isaac Watts, 
since it has pleased God to confer upon him, though 
one of the least of the poets of his country, more glory 
than upon the greatest either of that or of any other, 
by making his 'Divine Songs' a more abundant and 
universal blessing than the verses of any uninspired 
penman that ever lived." 

Notwithstanding we thus admit that Dr. Watts's de- 
lightful " Divine Songs" have had a more general cir- 
culation, and have been more useful to the rising gene- 
rations of the last century or more, yet we look anxious- 



42 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

ly forward to the day when Charles Wesley's " Hymns 
for Children," which are not inferior to those of Watts, 
and are more than treble their number, will be pub- 
lished in an attractive form, and placed within the 
reach of every child and young person in Christendom. 
See some further remarks on these hymns on page 207. 
Dr. Watts published a volume entitled " A Guide to 
Prayer," intended to assist the youthful Christian in 
the performance of this important part of devotion. 
This work, and his version of the Psalms, occasioned 
the following satirical lines, by Samuel Wesley, Jun., 
which appeared in the second edition of his Poems, 
1743:— 

" Form stints the spirit, Watts has said, 
And therefore oft is wrong ; 
At best a crutch the weak to aid, 
A cumbrance to the strong. 

" Of human liturgies the load 
Perfection scorns to bear ; 
Th' apostles were but weak, when God 
Prescribed his form of prayer. 

" Old David, both in prayer and praise, 
A form for crutches brings ; 
But Watts has dignified his lays, 
And furnish'd him with wings. 

" E'en Watts a form for praise can choose, 
For prayer, who throws it by ; 
Crutches to walk, he can refuse, 
But uses them to fly." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 43 



We are indebted to Montgomery for the subjoined obser- 
vations on the hymns of Doddridge and Toplady : — 

" All that can be imagined deficient in Addison's 
hymns, "will be found to constitute the glory of Dod- 
dridge's. They shine in the beauty of holiness ; these 
offsprings of his mind are arrayed in 'the fine linen, 
pure and white, which is the righteousness of saints :' 
and, like the saints, they are lovely and acceptable, not 
for their human merit, (for in poetry and eloquence 
they are frequently deficient,) but for that fervent, un- 
affected love to God, his service, and his people, which 
distinguishes them. Blessed is the man who can take 
the words of this devoted servant of Christ, and say, 
from similar experience, 

' O happy day, that fix'd my choice 
On thee, my Saviour and my God,' &c. 

Or who, sitting down to commemorate the dying love 
of his Redeemer, can exclaim, ' The King of heaven his 
table spreads,' &c. ; or sing in higher mood, ' Lord of 
the sabbath, hear us pray,' &c. And how dwelleth 
the love of God in that heart which can hear un- 
moved, and without praying to be made a partaker of 
the same spirit, that sweet and humble appeal, ' Do not 
I love thee, O my Lord V The fourth verse presents 
the touch-stone of Christian profession, experience, and 
practice : — 

' Hast thou a lamb in all thy flock 

I would disdain to feed ? 
Hast thou a foe, before avIiosc face 
I fear thy cause to plead V " 



44 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

3Utgustu0 Soplabg. 

" The hymns of the Rev. Augustus Toplady form a 
striking contrast with the mild and humane tone of Dod- 
dridge's. There is a peculiarly ethereal spirit in some 
of these; in which, whether mourning or rejoicing, 
praying or praising, the writer seems absorbed in the 
full triumph of faith, and, ' whether in the body or out 
of the body, caught up into the third heaven,' and be- 
holding unutterable things. He evidently kindled his 
poetic torch at that of his cotemporary, Charles Wes- 
ley ; and, though inferior in breadth and volume of 
flame, yet the light which it sheds is not less vivid and 
sparkling, while it may be said to be more delicate to 
the eye, and refreshing to the spirits, than that prodi- 
gality of radiance which the rival luminary cast alike 
on everything it touched. 'Rock of ages, cleft for 
me,' &c, is well known and appreciated. ' Deathless 
principle, arise,' <fec, is scarcely suitable to be sung ; 
but it may be uttered by ' the dying Christian to his 
soul,' with a joy which he alone can feel, and feel only 
at the height, in the last moment of time, and the first 
of eternity. Had this poem appeared without name, it 
might have been confidently set down as the produc- 
tion of Charles Wesley, — as one of Charles Wesley's 
loveliest progeny has been fathered upon Augustus 
Toplady : ' Christ, whose glory fills the skies,' " <fec. 

Having thus given in full Mr. Montgomery's highly 
favorable notice of Mr. Toplady, the following addi- 
tional particulars will not, we think, be deemed illibe- 
ral nor irrelevant ; while the interest which the subject 
of hymnology has recently awakened in the churches, 
together with the character of the facts adduced, will 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 45 

justify the length to which these remarks may be ex- 
tended. Full justice we conceive has been awarded to 
Mr. Toplady, though we may have undecked him of 
what his admirers have long erroneously considered 
some of his brightest and most valuable poetical jewels. 
Besides the fine hymn which Mr. Montgomery says 
has been "fathered upon Augustus Toplady," at least 
two other of " Charles Wesley's loveliest progeny " 
have shared the same fate ; or rather — if the editor of 
his collected works be not at fault — Mr. Toplady, of 
his own free will and accord, has adopted said " love- 
liest progeny." Now for the proof of our assertion. 
The reader is requested to compare the following hymn, 
with verses 4 and 6 of the first part, and verses 3, 4, 
and 6, of the second part, of hymn 68 in the Method- 
ist Hymn-book : — 

" What though I cannot break my chain, 
Or e'er throw off ray load ; 
The things impossible to men, 

Are possible to God. 
" Who, who shall in thy presence stand, 
Or match omnipotence ; 
Unfold the grasp of thy right hand, 
And pluck the sinner thence 1 
" Faith to be heal'd, I fain would have, 
O might it now be given ! 
Thou canst, thou canst the sinner save, 
And make me meet for heaven. 
" Bound down by twice ten thousand ties, 
Yet let me hear thy call ; 
My soul in confidence shall rise, 

Shall rise, and break through all. 
<: Thou canst o'ercome this heart of mine, 
Thou wilt victorious prove ; 
For everlasting strength is thine, 
And everlasting love." 



46 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Also the second and third stanzas of the following, 
with verses 1 and 4 of hymn 104. The first stanza 
may also be found in the " Hymns and Sacred Poems " 
of J. and C. Wesley, 1739, where the hymn originally 
appeared. 

" Father, I want a thankful heart, 
I want to taste how good thou art, 
To plunge me in thy mercy's sea, 
And comprehend thy love to me ; 
The length, and breadth, and depth, and height, 
Of love divinely infinite. 

c: Jesus, my great High Priest above, 
My Friend before the throne of love ! 
If now for me prevails thy prayer, 
If noAV I find thee pleading there, 
Hear, and my weak petitions join, 
Almighty Advocate, to thine. 

" sovereign Love, to thee I cry, 
Give me thyself, or else I die ; 
Save me from death, from hell set free, 
Death, hell, are but the want of thee ; 
My life, my crown, my heaven, thou art ! 
O may I find thee in my heart !" 

These hymns are not found in Mr. Toplady's Hymn- 
book, which only purports to be a " collection ;" al- 
though, according to a remark in the preface, it con- 
tains " a very few hymns of his own composing ;" but 
they do appear in his collected works, immediately fol- 
lowing a volume of his poetry, mostly hymns, entitled 
" Poems on Sacred Subjects," and probably were in- 
cluded in that work, which the author published in 
Dublin, in the year 1759, when he was but nineteen 
years of age. And it is not at all surprising that his 
biographer should say of these poems, " They are by 
no means deficient in spirit and force; some of the 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 4*1 

verses are truly poetical, and many of the thoughts are 
new." It is probable the volume, although it exhibited 
" indubitable marks of genius," did not pass to a second 
edition during the lifetime of the author, or his avowed 
hatred of Arminian doctrines, if not his maturer judg- 
ment, would have induced him to omit the hymns of 
Mr. Wesley, which, at the time of their republication 
in Ireland, had been about twenty years in circulation 
among the Methodists in England. ISTor would the 
" sins " of Mr. Toplady's " youth " be noticed in this 
place, were it not for the circumstance that they stand 
recorded in a " verbatim " edition of his works pub- 
lished in London as late as the year 1837 ; the editor 
of which is quoted above, and who, we must of course 
suppose, was ignorant of the fact that he was perpetu- 
ating proof of the plagiarism of his admired author. 
Let, however, the following, in palliation of the " small 
inaccuracies of these juvenile compositions," still be his 
apology : " The youth," says his biographer, " and in- 
experience of the writer must be looked upon as an 
extenuation, so as to preclude every idea of criticism /" 

It would not be at all proper to close our remarks 
on Mr. Toplady before taking some further notice of 
the hymn, commencing, " Rock of ages, cleft for me," 
which we have — reluctantly we confess — consented to 
ascribe to him; not, however, without being per- 
mitted to make the following qualifying statement. 
By many it is still thought there is some uncertainty in 
reference to the authorship of this hymn, although it is 
generally ascribed to Toplady ; and it certainly does 
appear both in his Collection of Psalms and Hymns, 
and his volume of collected works. But as the latter 
work contains some of Mr. C. Wesley's hymns, as we 



48 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

have above shown, the fact of the hymn in question 
being found there, is not deemed sufficient evidence to 
verify its authorship. Besides, Mr. Watson, in an 
article in the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine for 1832, 
says he " must reclaim the hymn for Charles Wesley, 
who is its rightful author." This, we admit, is all the 
direct evidence possessed, that we are aware of, in favor 
of Wesley's claim ; but Mr. Watson is good authority 
upon any subject when he speaks positively, which he 
appears to do in this instance, and his opinion should 
stand against anything short of demonstration. The 
hymn in Toplady's volume has four verses, while in 
the Methodist Hymn-book it has but three. This dif- 
ference has been accounted for on the following suppo- 
sition : Toplady has taken Wesley's hymn, and by 
transposing and altering the lines, and interpolating 
some of his own, he has "manufactured" the hymn 
known as his. That he has done this in several 
other instances has been proved. We will now annex 
the hymn as written, it is alledged, by Mr. Toplady, 
indicating by italics the alterations and omitted lines 
in the Hymn-book : — 

" Rock of ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee ! 
Let the water and the blood 
From thy riven side which flow'd, 
Be of sin the double cure ; 
Cleanse me from its guilt and power ! 

" Not the labors of my lianas 
Can fulfill thy law's commands : 
Could my zeal no respite know, 
Could my tears for ever flow, 
All for sin could not atone ; 
Thou must save, and thou alone. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 49 

" Nothing in my hand I bring, 
Simply to thy cross I cling ; 
Naked, come to thee for dress ; 
Helpless, look to thee for grace ; 
Foul, I to the fountain fly; 
Wash me, Saviour, or I die ! 

" While I draw this fleeting breath, 
When my eye-strings break in death, 
When I soar to worlds unknown, 
See thee on thy judgment-tbxoae — 
Kock of ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee !" 

Having given the opinion of Mr. Watson, we will do 
Mr. Toplady the justice to let the reader see what can 
be said in support of his claims. There is before us a 
manuscript letter from the learned author of "Wes- 
ley an Hymnology," in which Mr. Burgess says : " As to 
the hymn ascribed by me to Toplady, but by Mr. Wat- 
son to Charles Wesley, I know what Mr. Watson says 
in the Magazine for 1832, page 102 ; but I am decid- 
edly of opinion that in that case he is wrong. I have 
seen the hymn, 'Rock of ages,' in Toplady's collection, 
and I think the four verses appearing there were the 
original, as composed by Toplady. The first verse, I 
believe, ended thus : — 

' Be of sin the double cure ; 
Save me from its guilt and power ;' 

and among the lines, in a following verse, we have, 

' Naked, come to thee for dress.' 
This, I think, savors of Toplady much more than of 
Wesley. What proof has Mr. Watson that the hymn 
was written by Charles Wesley ? Is it to be found in 
any of the publications of the two brothers ? and if it 
be, is it found in any professing to contain none but 



50 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

their own productions? That hymn stands in our 
Hymn-book, with a slight exception in one line, [five 
lines,] exactly as in Montgomery's Christian Psalmist ; 
and I think it was curtailed and amended in its present 
form either by Montgomery, or by some modern col- 
lector of hymns, since Mr. Wesley's days." 

To differ in opinion with one who has examined this 
question with as much attention and ability as has the 
author of Wesleyan Hymnology, would be presump- 
tion; but the writer has ground to know that Mr. 
Burgess, when he penned the above, had never seen Mr. 
Toplady's volume of collected works, and was not aware 
that that work contained several of C. Wesley's hymns, 
which, although considerably altered, can be easily re- 
cognized. Still, as before intimated, with the present 
light, the authorship of this hymn is, by many persons, 
considered as involved in uncertainty. 

Joacpl) 2Urtri0Ott. 

Perhaps no name connected with English literature is 
better known than that which heads this article. Dr. 
Johnson assigns to him the highest place among prose 
writers, when he says, " Whoever wishes to attain an 
English style, familiar, but not coarse ; and elegant, but 
not ostentatious ; must give his days and nights to the 
volumes of Addison." None will dispute this high 
praise ; while all must regret that his treatise on the 
" Christian Religion " was but half finished at his death, 
a work dearer to the pious heart than even his papers 
in the Spectator. Nor can the Christian contemplate, 
without a sigh, the fact mentioned by his friend Tickell, 
although it is strangely doubted by Miss Aitkin, that 






METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 51 

Addison " had long determined to dedicate his poetry 
also, for the future, wholly to religious subjects." Great 
as is his fame, and useful as are his works, both would 
have been much more so, had he early in life acted 
upon the principles which he adopted near the close of 
it, in reference to his literary labors. That so small a 
part of his writings have a strictly religious tendency, 
while so large a portion is devoted to the stage, is to 
be deplored. Had Addison lived to carry out his de- 
sign in reference to his poetry, or had he pursued such 
a course from the beginning of his literary career, there 
can be little doubt that the Christian church would 
have been greatly benefited in the department of 
psalmody ; and instead of being the almost unknown 
author of five hymns, he might have written a volume, 
and thus associated his name in undying companionship 
with those of Watts and "Wesley. 

It is surprising that both Tickell and Dr. Johnson, in 
their sketches of Addison's life and writings, have made 
no allusion to his hymns ; and even his latest biogra- 
pher, the accomplished Miss Aitkin, has taken but a 
passing notice of them, while their high character and 
importance, among all religious denominations, to say 
nothing of their literary merits, would seem to de- 
mand at her hand particular attention. She, however, 
dispatches this part of her task in the following sum- 
mary manner : " They [Addison's Saturday papers in 
the Spectator] are also adorned by several hymns and 
sacred odes, which are among our best and most popu- 
lar productions, in a kind which is shown to be a far 
more difficult one than might have been supposed, by 
the frequent failures of writers of undoubted merit in 
other kinds of poetical composition.'* 



52 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Montgomery, Holland, and others, attribute to Addi- 
son only four hymns, but he undoubtedly wrote five, 
all of which appeared originally in the following num- 
bers of the Spectator, 441, 453, 465, 489, 513. They 
commence as follow : — 

" The Lord my pasture shall prepare." 
" When all thy mercies, my God." 
" The spacious firmament on high." 
" How are thy servants bless'd, O Lord." 
' : When rising from the bed of death." 

Four of these hymns are found in the Methodist 
Hymn-book, but some of the verses are considerably 
altered from the original. 

Although Addison's hymns have been universally 
admired on account of their elegant simplicity of style, 
objection has been made to them on the ground that, 
in sentiment, they do not sufficiently express the distin- 
guishing features of the New Testament dispensation ; 
namely, the gift of the Saviour, and the redemption of 
the world through him. Burgess says of two of 
them, — 

" The spacious firmament on high," &c., 
and 

" How are thy servants bless'd, Lord," &c. : 

" If the authorship were unknown, one would hardly 
suspect that they were written by a Christian." Mont- 
gomery says : " The four [five] hymns attributed to 
Addison are very pleasing. It is only to be regretted 
that they are not more in number, and that the God 
of grace, as well as the God of providence, is not more 
distinctly recognized in them." Holland, after alluding 
to the declaration of one of Addison's biographers, that 
he intended to render the whole book of Psalms into 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. S3 

metre, remarks : " The interfusion of evangelical senti- 
ment and feeling, which has made the psalmody of 
Watts so precious in every Christian community, would 
not, so far as we may judge from the existing speci- 
mens, have characterized the compositions of Addison." 
That these objections do not apply to all his hymns, 
will be perfectly apparent by a reference to hymn 15 
of the Methodist collection : — 

" When rising from the bed of death," &c., 

which is written throughout in a truly evangelical strain, 
and pervaded by a deeply devotional spirit. 

This being the last hymn composed by Addison, it is 
but fair to conclude, in opposition to the opinion above 
quoted, that had he lived to accomplish his design in 
reference to the book of Psalms, it would have been 
characterized by an " interfusion of evangelical senti- 
ment and feeling." Witness the last two stanzas of the 
hymn just alluded to : — 

" Then see the sorrow of my heart, 
Ere yet it be too late ; 
And hear my Saviour's dying groans, 
To give those sorrows weight. 

" For never shall my soul despair 
Her pardon to procure, 
Who knows thine only Son has died 
To make her pardon sure? 

In order fully to discover and appreciate the peculiar 
beauties of Addison's hymns, they should be read in 
connection with the essays as they stand in the Spec- 
tator. 

The author of "Wesleyan Hymnology" objects to 
some of Addison's hymns, because they do not rhyme 



54 METHODIST HYMNOLGY. 

in the first and third lines. Three are thus deficient, 
all of which are of the "common metre." Mr. Bur- 
gess, evidently with special allusion to Addison, says : 
" Though some eminent writers of a former day pro- 
duced hymns on this plan, and hymns of some excel- 
lence, their practice is not to be commended ; and the 
partial absence of rhyme in a hymn is in most cases an 
indication either of inferior talent, or of slovenly and 
careless composition. When the supplement to the 
Wesleyan Hymn-book was under consideration, it was 
strongly recommended by some, and among others, the 
writer of these remarks, that no hymn should be admit- 
ted in which the rhyming of the first and third lines 
was neglected. But it was observed, in reply to this 
recommendation, that some hymns of that description 
had been inserted by Mr. Wesley in the Morning Hymn- 
book, prepared and published by him for the London 
congregations ; and on this ground it was finally re- 
solved to admit a few." One of these is by Addison : 
it is entitled, " The Traveler's Hymn," and commences 
thus : — 

" How are thy servants bless'd, O Lord !" 

The same writer says of this hymn, with others, that 
were it expunged from the Wesleyan Hymn-book, its 
loss could not be justly regretted, and that its place 
might easily be supplied by another, fully equal in sen- 
timent, and superior in poetical merit. This is from 
high authority, but its correctness is doubtful ; the 
whole Christian, if not literary, world, seems to be of a 
different opinion. It must be admitted, however, that 
the deficiency in rhyme is a blemish; but there are 
" spots in the sun." 

The above "divine ode," which was written by 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 55 

Addison in the first person singular, was "made," says 
he, " by a gentleman upon the conclusion of his travels." 
In the original it has ten stanzas, the 3d, 4th, 5th, and 
6 th of which, are usually omitted from collections of 
hymns. They are here annexed : — 

" Thy mercy sweeten'd every soil, 
Made every region please : 
The hoary Alpine hills it warm'd, 
And smooth'd the Tyrrhene seas. 

" Think, my soul, devoutly think, 
How with affrighted eyes 
Thou saw'st the wide-extended deep 
In all its horrors rise ! 

" Confusion dwelt in every face, 
And fear in every heart ; 
When waves on waves, and gulfs on gulfs, 
O'ercame the pilot's art. 

" Yet then from all my griefs, Lord, 
Thy mercy set me free, 
While, in the confidence of prayer , 
My soul took hold on thee." 

This last stanza expresses the language only of the 
experimental Christian. 

It ought, perhaps, to be mentioned in this connec- 
tion, that two of Addison's hymns, those founded upon 
the 19th and 23d Psalms, and which commence thus, — 

" The spacious firmament on high," 

and 

" When all thy mercies, O my God," 

have been claimed for Andrew Marvell, in an edition 
of that writer's works, published in 111G by Captain 
Thompson, of Hull. The notion of Marvell, who died 
in 1678, having been for nearly a century defrauded of 



56 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

the credit of the authorship of the pieces in question, 
originated in the mere fact of their being found in a 
manuscript book of poems, some written, it is asserted, 
with Marvell's own hand, (?) and the rest copied by his 
order." This work, it seems, contained, besides those 
by Addison, poems by several other authors, all of 
which the editor, with characteristic modesty and ho- 
nesty, unhesitatingly gives to Marvell ; among them are 
Mallet's celebrated elegiac ballad of "William and 
Margaret," and Dr. Watts's paraphrase of the 114th 
Psalm, commencing, — 

" When Israel, freed from Pharaoh's hand," &c. 
But, as Nichols, in his " Literary Anecdotes of the Eigh- 
teenth Century," says, " perhaps a more ridiculous and 
ill-founded charge was never made than that which 
Captain Thompson has ventured to exhibit against 
Addison and Mallet ;" and, it must be added, Watts. 
And yet some, who ought to have known better, have 
repeated the ridiculous charge, among whom may be 
mentioned Dr. Johnson, as related by Boswell, and 
John Taylor, author of "Monsieur Tonson," whose 
" Life and Times " were republished some years ago in 
this country. The authorship of the hymns, however, 
can no longer be deemed doubtful, and they must here- 
after, in all confidence, be ascribed to their rightful 
author, Addison. 



lotjn Proton. 

The personal history of Mr. Newton, as narrated by 
himself, is one of the most intensely though mournrully 
interesting autobiographies to be found in any language. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY, §7 

He was the son of respectable parents, and received the 
rudiments of a classical education. His father was a 
mariner, and desired to see him honorably engaged in 
the same profession. "After a series of strange ad-^ 
ventures by sea and land, during which he had escaped 
various perils, but fallen into many snares, and lost all 
sense of religion and decorum, he was impressed," and 
carried on board of an English vessel of war, about to 
sail for the East Indies. " Here, though promoted by 
his father's interest to the rank of midshipman, from 
the outset he exposed himself to the displeasure of the 
commander by his irregular conduct ; and soon after- 
ward, in a fit of folly, deserted from the service, at the 
very time when he was appointed to watch over a 
boat's company, and prevent any of them from desert- 
ing. Being retaken, and brought in chains to the ves- 
sel, he was publicly flogged, and expelled from the 
quarter-deck. When the ship reached Madeira, he was' 
exchanged with the captain of a merchantman for one 
more likely to serve his majesty." From Madeira he 
was brought to a small island, covered with palm-trees, 
laying off the western coast of Africa, visited by none 
but slave-ships. Here he quitted the vessel, and en- 
tered into the service of an English slave-dealer. This 
was in the year 1*746. His degradation and sufferings 
while engaged in this horrible traffic were equally great ; 
the latter arising principally from the merciless treat- 
ment of the negro mistress of his master, who, insti- 
gated by her unnatural antipathy, proved as cruel as his 
mistress. 

Newton's description of his sufferings while in this 
situation is exceedingly touching. " I had sometimes," 
says he, " not a little difficulty to procure a draught of 
3* 



58 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

cold water when burning with a fever. My bed was a 
mat spread upon a board, and a log of wood my pillow. 
"When my fever left me, my appetite returned ; I would 
gladly have eaten, but there was no one gave unto me. 
... I have sometimes been relieved by strangers, nay, 
even hy the slaves in the chain, who secretly brought me 
victuals (for they durst not be seen to do it) from their 
own slender pittance." He also suffered during the in- 
clemency of the rainy seasons from the want of clothes ; 
his whole suit being a shirt, a pair of trowsers, a cotton 
handkerchief instead of a cap, and a cotton cloth about 
two yards long to supply the want of upper garments ; 
and thus accoutred, he was sometimes exposed for 
twenty, thirty, or forty hours together, in incessant rain, 
accompanied with strong gales of wind, without the 
least shelter. " I feel," says he, when writing of these 
scenes and sufferings many years afterward, "to this 
day some faint returns of the violent pains I then con- 
tracted." 

One other circumstance must be given from his re- 
volting narrative. Writing to a friend in after life, he 
says, " Had you seen me then go pensive and solitary, in 
the dead of night, to wash my one shirt upon the rocks, 
and afterward put it on wet, that it might dry upon my 
back while I slept — had you seen me so poor a figure 
that, when a boat's crew came to the island, shame 
often constrained me to hide myself in the woods, from 
the sight of strangers — especially had you known that 
my conduct, principles, and heart, were still darker 
than my outward condition," &c. And amid all this 
distress, God was not in all his thoughts, though often 
upon his tongue in curses, and invoked in " the swear- 
er's prayer." Yet God in mercy refused to answer it, 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 59 

and did not " damn his soul" in the eternal torments 
of hell. 

This then is the same John Newton, who afterward 
became the eminent minister and author, so well known 
for his numerous " Letters" on religious subjects, and 
the " Olney Hymns," which he wrote in connection with 
Cowper, whose contributions, however, to that work 
number only about sixty. The rest are all by Newton. 
In reference to whom, Montgomery remarks, " Verily 
and literally to his experience might be applied the 
words of his friend, Cowper, — 

' God moves in a mysterious way 

His wonders to perform : 

He plants his footsteps in the sea, 

And rides upon the storm.'' " 

The following observations are by the same eminent 
living author : " On the whole, though it must be ac- 
knowledged that Newton was a poet of very humble 
order, yet he has produced, in this collection, proofs of 
great versatility in exercising the one talent of this kind 
intrusted to him. He has also turned it to the best 
account, by rendering it wholly subservient to the best 
purposes in the service of God and man. With this 
sanction, all his deficiencies as a technical versifier will 
be forgiven and forgotten by those who have the reli- 
gious feeling which can appreciate the far higher ex- 
cellences of the plain, practical, and often lively, fer- 
vent, and sincere effusions, of a heart full to overflowing 
of the love of God, and laboring with indefatigable zeal 
to promote the kingdom of Christ upon earth." 



60 METHODIST HYMSTOLOGY. 

tUUUctm (Hotupor. 

The following observations on Cowper and his hymns 
are taken from his Life by Thomas Taylor. 

" It appears not improbable," says his biographer, 
" that his friend, Mr. Newton, might have witnessed, in 
the morbid tendency of his mind to melancholy, of 
which he then discovered symptoms, some traces of the 
deep and extensive wound which his mind had received 
by this event, though his efforts to conceal it were in- 
cessant. Hence he wisely engaged him in a literary 
undertaking, congenial to his taste, suited to his admira- 
ble talents, and, perhaps, more adapted to alleviate his 
distress than any other that could have been selected. 
Mr. Newton had felt the want of a volume of evangeli- 
cal hymns, on experimental subjects, suited for public 
and private worship ; he mentioned the subject to Cow- 
per, and pressed him to undertake it, and the result 
was, a friendly compact to supply the volume between 
them, with an understanding that Cowper was to be 
the principal composer. He entered upon this work 
with great pleasure ; and though he does not appear, 
previous to this, to have employed his poetical talents 
for a considerable time, yet the admirable hymns he 
composed, show with what ease he could write upon 
the doctrinal, experimental, or practical parts of Chris- 
tianity. One of our best living poets, whose writings 
more frequently remind us of Cowper's than any we 
have ever read, in an essay on the poet's productions, 
remarks, * Of these hymns, it must suffice to say, that, 
like all his best compositions, they are principally com- 
munings with his own heart, or avowals of personal 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 61 

Christian experience. As such they are frequently- 
applicable to every believer's feelings, and touch, un- 
expectedly, the most secret springs of joy and sorrow — 
faith, fear, hope, love, trial, despondency, and triumph. 
Some allude to infirmities the most difficult to be de- 
scribed, but often the source of excruciating anguish to 
the tender conscience. The hymn, ' As birds their in- 
fant brood protect,' is written with the confidence of 
inspiration, and the authority of a prophet. The hymn, 
* Thy mansion is the Christian's heart,' is a perfect alle- 
gory in miniature ; without a failing point, or confusion 
of metaphor, from beginning to end. Hymn, ' I was a 
groveling creature once,' presents a transformation, 
which, if foimd in Ovid, might have been extolled as 
the happiest of his fictions. Hymn, ' Gracious Lord, 
our children see !' closes with one of the hardiest figures 
to be met with out of the Hebrew Scriptures. None 
but a poet of the highest order could have written it ; 
verses cannot go beyond it, and painting cannot approach 
it. Hymn, ' My song shall bless the Lord of all,' is in 
a strain of noble simplicity, expressive of confidence the 
most remote from presumption, and such as a heart at 
peace with God alone could employ and utter. "Who 
can read the hymn, ' The Saviour, what a noble flame,' 
without feeling as if he could, at that moment, forsake 
all, take up his cross, and follow his Saviour? The 
hymn, ' God of my life, to thee I call,' is a model of 
tender pleading, of believing, persevering prayer, in 
trouble ; and the following one is a brief parody of 
Bunyan's finest passage, The Valley of the Shadow of 
Death, and is admirable of its kind. The reader might 
almost imagine himself Christian on his pilgrimage, the 
triumph and the trance are brought so home to his 



62 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

bosom. Hymn, ' God moves in a mysterious way, ' is 
a lyric of high tone and character, and rendered awfully 
interesting by the circumstances under which it was 
written — in the twilight of departing reason."* The 
references to Cowper's hymns in the original of this 
extract are to the respective books and numbers of the 
" Olney Hymns ;" in place of which the writer has 
thought proper to substitute the first line of each 
hymn. 

In his introductory essay to the " Olney Hymns," Mr. 
Montgomery has the following additional remarks on 
the character of Cowper's poetry, which cannot be 
otherwise than acceptable to the reader : — " The first 
fruits of his muse, after he had been baptized with the 
Holy Ghost and with fire, will ever be precious (inde- 
pendent of their other merits) as the transcripts of his 
happiest feelings, the memorials of his walk with God, 
and his daily experience (amidst conflicts and discour- 
agements) of the consoling power of that religion in 
which he had found peace, and often enjoyed peace to a 
degree that passed understanding. On the other hand, 
it is a heart-withering reflection, that his mightier 
efforts of genius — the poems by which he commands 
universal admiration — though they breathe the soul of 
purest, humblest, holiest piety, and might have been 
•written amidst the clear shining of the Sun of righteous- 
ness arisen on him with healing in Ins wings — were yet 
composed under darkness like that of the valley of the 
shadow of death. While the tempted poet sung the 
privileges, the duties, and the blessedness of the Chris- 
tian, he had himself lost all except the remembrance 

* Essay on Cowper's Poems, among the " Select Christian 
Authors," by Montgomery. 



METHODIST HTMNOLOGY. 63 

that he once possessed them, and the bitter, insane, and 
invincible conviction, that for him there was no hope, 
either in this life, or that which is to come. Under this 
frightful delusion, in its last effect, for several years, 
even his intellectual being was absorbed, till the disor- 
dered body fell into dust, and the soul returned to God 
who gave it." 



Samuel Stonett, JD.5D. 

Dr. Stennett was a native of Exeter, England, and 
descended from pious ancestors, who, for several gene- 
rations, were conspicuous in the Baptist Church as 
ministers of talent, learning, and piety. He was or- 
dained to the pastoral office in the year 1758, — being 
then thirty-one years of age, — as successor to his fa- 
ther in "the Christian Church assembling in Little 
Wild street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London." The de- 
gree of doctor in divinity was conferred upon him 
without any solicitation on his part, in the year 1763, 
by the King's College and University of Aberdeen. 
After exercising himself in the office of the ministry 
with great acceptability and usefulness for thirty-seven 
years, Dr. Stennett died on the 25th of August, 1795, 
in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His loss, says his 
biographer, was deeply regretted, not only by all the 
Baptist churches throughout the kingdom, but also by 
many most respectable persons of other denominations 
of Protestant Dissenters, and also of the National Es- 
tablishment. His works were collected and published, 
together with an account of his life and writings, by 
William Jones, in three octavo volumes, London, 1824. 
His hymns, only thirty-four in number, after those of 



64 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Watts and Wesley, may be mentioned as among the 
best that have been written in the English language. 



Io0epl) Stauutt. 

This author was the grandfather of Dr. Stennett, the 
subject of the precedent sketch. For twenty-three 
years he was pastor of the Baptist Church which assem- 
bled at Pinner's Hall, in London, where his piety and 
usefulness procured for him the affectionate regard of 
his brethren, the dissenting ministers of the metropolis. 
He is known to the religious world as the author of 
three octavo volumes of sermons ; a fourth volume, con- 
taining a version of Solomon's Song, Hymns on Bap- 
tism and the Lord's Supper, and various smaller pieces 
on miscellaneous subjects ; and a fifth volume, the con- 
tents of which are of a controversial character, on the 
subject of baptism. His works were published in 
1*732. Several of Mr. Stennett's hymns are contained 
in the Baptist hymn-books, and are still used in pub- 
lic worship ; but they are not to be compared in poetic 
merit with those of his equally talented grandson. 



Samuel itUtrleti. 

" This respectable minister," says Lady Huntingdon's 
biographer, " was originally in the navy, and engaged 
in several actions. Being severely wounded, he was 
permitted to return to his grandfather's house till per- 
fectly recovered. As soon as he was able to go abroad, 
he attended with his grandfather (a deacon of the Bap- 
tist Church in Eagle-street, London) the ministry of 
Mr. Whitefield and Dr. Gifford, when it pleased God 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 65 

to lead him to a saving acquaintance with divine things. 
He was twenty-seven years pastor of the Baptist Church 
at Liverpool, and during that period one of the regular 
supplies at Tabernacle and Tottenham-court Chapel," 
two of Lady Huntingdon's chapels in London ; where, 
it is said, his ministry was greatly owned. He died in 
1*799, aged sixty-one ; and the following year was pub- 
lished his volume of original hymns, from which were 
taken the two by him in our collection. 

fflxss 2tnne Stttk. 

This amiable, pious, and talented lady, was the daugh- 
ter of Rev. William Steele, pastor of the Baptist 
Church at Broughton, in Hampshire, England. She 
was a member of her father's church forty-six years, 
and died in November, 1778, in the sixty-second year 
of her age. She published, during her life, under the 
assumed name of Theodosia, two volumes of her com- 
positions, mostly poetical; and a third volume was 
published after her death, by her friend, Dr. Caleb 
Evans, of Bristol. Her excellent hymns, by which, 
though dead, she still speaks, and which, with her 
other writings, says Dr. Evans, are the faithful counter- 
part of her amiable mind, exhibit to us the fairest picture 
of the original. The following lines, composed by one 
of her nieces, are inscribed on her tomb : — 

" Silent the lyre, and dumb the tuneful tongue, 

That sung on earth her great Redeemer's praise ; 
But now in heaven she joins the angelic song, 
In more harmonious, more exalted lays." 



66 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 



Eobort Hobm0on. 

This individual obtained in his day, by his versatility 
of talents, and frequent changes of theological tenets, 
botli celebrity and notoriety. He was a native of 
Swaffham, in the county of Norfolk, England, and in 
the year 1752, at the early age of seventeen, became a 
student at the Tabernacle, one of Lady Huntingdon's 
chapels, in London. His talents as a public speaker 
were of a high order ; he could command the attention 
of every ear, and possessed almost absolute dominion 
over his audience. After preaching for some time at 
the Tabernacle, he left the Calvinistic Methodists, and 
formed an Independent church, consisting of persons 
who had imbibed his sentiments. In a short time he 
changed again, and became a Baptist. These changes 
all took place in the course of a few years, and before 
he had reached the age of twenty-five ; at which period 
of his life he was invited to the pastoral charge of the 
Baptist Church at Cambridge. This unhappy disposi- 
tion to change in his youth, was followed by an insta- 
bility in maturer years, which betrayed itself in regard 
to subjects of the utmost importance. His unbounded 
self-conceit, and sovereign contempt of others, prepared 
a heart, already gone astray from divine guidance and 
evangelical truth, to drink the cup of Socinianism to the 
drogs. His eccentricity and love of novelty were fur- 
ther shown in his refusal, for some time, to eat except 
when he was hungry ; and to follow nature, he would 
retire to bed only when he was overpowered with 
sleep, so that day was turned into night, and night into 
day. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 67 

Besides the hymn, — 

" Come, thou Fount of every blessing," &c<, 

Mr. Robinson, according to his biographer, wrote an- 
other, a Christmas hymn, in the same strain, which was 
set to music by his friend, Dr. Randall, Professor of 
Music in the University of Cambridge. This hymn we 
have not been able to discover, unless it be the one 
commencing, 

" Mighty God, while angels Hess thee." 

He is also said to be, but we know not on what autho- 
rity, the author of the hymn beginning, 

" Sweet the moments, rich in blessing." 

lorjn Ualtttoell. 

This venerable and excellent man, a native of Green- 
wich, England, the author of many hymns, was one of 
the very first who labored as a "helper," or local 
preacher, in connection with the Wesleys, and the early 
Methodists ; having begun to act in that capacity about 
the year 1749. His mortal remains lie in the burying- 
ground adjoining the City Road Chapel, in London : and 
the inscription on his tomb-stone states, that he died 
March 18, 1819, aged ninety-eight years; having 
adorned the doctrine of God our Saviour eighty years, 
and having preached his glorious gospel about seventy 
years. A letter, written by Mr. Bakewell, was in- 
serted in the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine for 1816, 
page 538. 



68 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 



!ol)n Cennick. 

This individual, well known in the early days of Me- 
thodism for his frequent changes of religious opinions, 
became acquainted with Messrs. John and Charles Wes- 
ley in the year 1739, and was appointed by the former 
his first teacher at Kings wood school. This appoint- 
ment was probably made on the recommendation of 
Mr. Whitefield, with whom Cennick had formed a very 
intimate acquaintance. Here, however, he was unfaith- 
ful to his trust ; and when his friend Whitefield began 
to preach Calvinistic doctrines, Cennick, in opposition 
to Mr. Wesley's views and wishes, followed his exam- 
ple, which was justly the occasion of his discharge 
from Kings wood. He then joined Mr. Whitefield, and 
became very popular for a time. Subsequently he 
joined the Moravians, in connection with whom he re- 
mained until his death, in 1 755. The biographer of the 
countess of Huntingdon speaks of Cennick as possessing 
" a sweet simplicity of spirit, with an ardent zeal in the 
cause of his divine Master ;" and gives him the title of 
founder of the Brethren's churches in Dublin and the 
north of Ireland. And his memory and works have 
been celebrated in a poem by his friend Bishop Gam- 
bold, of the Moravian Church. 

Cennick's hymns are numerous, amounting to up- 
ward of eight hundred, and fill two thick volumes; 
but, in their poetic character, are mere doggerel. Yet 
two of them, — 

" Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone," 
and, 

'• Children of the heavenly King," 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 69 

as amended in the Hymn-book, have become exceed- 
ingly popular. The other hymn, commencing, 

" The Saviour meets his flock to-day," 
in its present dress, especially verses 2 and 3, can- 
not, with strict adherence to fact, be ascribed to 
Cennick ; who, however, has an undoubted right to the 
original. 

This author, who also wrote several volumes of " Vil- 
lage Discourses," which still circulate among the Cal- 
vinistic Dissenters in England, has been highly honored 
in another particular. Two of his short hymns, or 
"graces" — one to be used "before meat," the other 
" after meat" — are, to this day, almost universally adopt- 
ed by the Methodists in England, before and after each 
meal, to the exclusion of those excellent compositions 
of a similar kind, by Charles Wesley ; some specimens of 
which maybe found in this volume. See pp. 140-142. 

Oennick's "graces" — which are among his very best 
attempts at poetry, on account of their celebrity among 
the English Wesleyans — deserve to be inserted here. 

Before Meat. 

" Be present at our table, Lord ; 
Be here and everywhere adored : 
Thy creatures bless, and grant that we 
May feast in paradise with thee." 
After Meat. 

" We bless thee, Lord, for this our food ; 
But more for Jesus' flesh and blood — 
The manna to our spirits given, 
The living bread sent down from heaven : 
Praise shall our grateful lips employ, 
While life and plenty we enjoy ; 
Till worthy we adore thy name, 
While banqueting with Christ, the Lamb.'* 



70 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

The last four lines of the grace "after meat" are 
sometimes omitted. 

Cennick is also the reputed author of the fine hymn, 
commencing, 

" Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings, 
Thy better portion trace :" 
but it is in a strain far superior to his ; and was com- 
posed by the Rev. R. Seagrave, author of a small 
volume of hymns, the third edition of which was pub- 
lished in England, in 1745 : he also published a volume 
of sermons. 

loljn ©ambotfr. 

A man, says Mr. Watson, of fine genius, as some of 
his poems show, and of eminent holiness. He was a 
clergyman of the Church of England, which he left, 
and became a Moravian bishop. Mr. Gambold's ac- 
quaintance with John and Charles Wesley commenced 
in the year 1730, when a friendship was formed be- 
tween them, which was both sincere and lasting. After 
the brothers had left England on their mission to 
America, their friend wrote an account of them in a 
letter to one of their relations ; some passages of which 
Mr. Watson has inserted in his Life of Wesley, which 
are alike honorable to the writer and the subjects of 
his remarks. Mr. Gambold was the author of " Igna- 
tius, a Tragedy," various minor pieces, and many hymns 
in the Moravian Brethren's Collection. He wrote the 

following 

Epitaph on himself. 

" Ask not who ended here his span ? 
His name, reproach, and praise, was man. 
Did no great deeds adorn his course ? 
No deed of his, but show ; d him worse : 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. Yl 

One thing was great, which God supplied, 
He suffer'd human life — and died. 
What points of knowledge did he gain 1 
That life was sacred all — and vain : 
Sacred how high, and vain how low, 
He knew not here, but died to know." 

The last two lines will doubtless appear familiar to 
many readers, who will now, for the first time, be made 
acquainted with their authorship. 



lotjtt Mason, %. M. 

This author, who was rector of Water- Stratford, Buck- 
inghamshire, died in 1694, and was the grandfather of 
the celebrated author of the same name, on Self -Know- 
ledge. He published an anonymous work, entitled 
" Spiritual Songs ; or, Songs of Praise, with Penitential 
Cries to Almighty God, upon Several Occasions ; toge- 
ther with the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's, first 
turned, then paraphrased, in English Verse : — with an 
Addition of a Sacred Poem on Dives and Lazarus." 
When the first edition of this volume was published 
we have not been able to learn ; but the third appeared 
in 1691 : and, although in 1*750 it had reached the 
fourteenth edition, the author's name was never inserted 
in the title. The writer's style is a middle tint be- 
tween the raw coloring of Quarles and the daylight 
clearness of Watts and Wesley. His talent is equally 
poised between his forerunner and his successors, hav- 
ing more vigor than the former, and less versatility than 
the latter. That such writings, says Montgomery, 
should once have been exceedingly popular, (as the 
multitude of editions proves,) and now be nearly for- 



72 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

gotten, is little creditable to the admirers of sacred 
literature in Great Britain. The same author thinks 
that Dr. Watts, Mr. Pope, and tlfe Wesleys, were fa- 
miliar with the contents of this volume ; sundry lines 
and phrases in verses of theirs being evidently borrowed 
from passages in it. The truth of this assertion in 
reference to Watts, the writer of the present work had 
discovered before he read Mr. Montgomery's remarks, 
and instanced the following stanza from Mason, the 
first two lines of which Dr. Watts has adopted entire 
in one of his divine songs : — 

" What shall I render to my God 
For all his gifts to me? 
Sing, heaven and earth, rejoice and praise 
His glorious Majesty." 

His compositions were highly valued by the Dis- 
senters, and were often sung in their congregations 

previous to the publication of Watts's hymns. 

* % 

Btsljop Krrot. 

Thomas Kenn, some time bishop of Bath and Wells, 
was born in 1637, and died in 1710. He had the 
double honor of being one of the seven prelates sent 
to the Tower for protesting against the tyrannical usur- 
pations of spiritual authority by James II., and also of 
conscientiously vacating his see rather than take the 
oaths to William III., after having sworn allegiance to 
his predecessor. His poems are numerous, and of consi- 
derable merit, though by three only is he now generally 
known — the Morning, Evening, and Midnight Hymns. 
These were originally published by the bishop, in the 
year 1697, at the end of a small "Manual of Pray- 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. *73 

ers for the Use of the Scholars of Winchester Col- 
lege."* 

In reference to these hymns, Mr. Montgomery re- 
marks : — " Had he endowed three hospitals, he might 
have been less a benefactor to posterity. There is 
exemplary plainness of speech, manly vigor of thought, 
and consecration of heart, in these pieces." 

3 ant Saglor. 

This accomplished lady was never married, and died 
in 1824, aged forty-one. She was one of the authors 
— with her sister, Mrs. Gilbert, and others — of Rhymes 
for the Nursery, Original Poems, and Hymns for In- 
fant Minds. " Her tale of Display, and Contributions 
of Q. Q. to the Youth's Magazine," says the editor of 
the Christian Poet, " are well-known and esteemed. 
But her greatest performance, under the modest title 
of Essays in Rhyme, though the circulation has been 
creditable to the author's name among cotemporaries, 
has never been appreciated as it ought to be in the 
polite literature of the age. No poet of the time (not 

* This work was useful to Whitefield in his early religious 
experience, and is alluded to by Dr. Southey in the following 
extract from his Life of Wesley : — " He [Whitefield] had a 
devout disposition and a tender heart. When he was about ten 
years old, his mother made a second marriage: it proved an 
unhappy one. During the affliction to which this led, his bro- 
ther used to read aloud Bishop Kenn's Manual for Winchester 
Scholars. This book affected George Whitefield greatly ; and 
when the corporation, at their annual visitation of St. Mary de 
Crypt's School, where he was educated, gave him, according to 
custom, money for the speeches which he was chosen to deliver, 
he purchased the book, and found it, he says, of great benefit to 
his soul." 

4 



74 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

excepting the greatest) has shown more exquisite skill 
in delineating human nature, human manners, and hu- 
man frailties. Few volumes contain so much of sober, 
sad reality, concerning those things that most concern 
us all, than these unpretending essays. The author 
has arrayed her opinions in such language of light, that 
the clearness, simplicity, and beauty, of the dress, 
though it does not strike a vulgar eye, would have 
ravishing attractions for the eye of taste, were not the 
subjects so repulsive to ' the carnal mind,' that if they 
were clad, like the angel at the sepulchre, in raiment 
white as snow, and having countenances like lightning, 
those who are under the influence of ' enmity toward 
God,' would only the more exceedingly tremble and 
quake, and become as dead men before them. The 
world may laugh and affect to despise such writings, 
but it is often the laugh that would hide agony ; and 
the scorn that cannot appease fearful misgivings, lest 
that which is hated may actually be true." Her com- 
plete works, in two handsome volumes, have recently 
been republished in this country. 

Among Miss Taylor's Poetical Remains, published 
after her death, together with Memoirs by her brother, 
the Rev. Isaac Taylor, are five stanzas of a hymn by 
Charles Wesley, which also appear in Toplady's works, 
commencing, 

" What though I cannot hreak my chain ?" 
See page 45. Miss Taylor probably copied the stan- 
zas from Toplady, which, being found by her brother 
among her manuscripts, were inserted, as above men- 
tioned, in her Remains. 






METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 75 



(Rate emir Brafog. 

N. Brady, D. D., Chaplain in Ordinary, and N". Tate, 
Esq., Poet Laureate to her Majesty, Queen Anne, au- 
thors of "A New Version of the Psalms of David, 
fitted to the Tunes to be used in Churches." The 
" new version" supplanted the " old " one by Steinhold 
and Hopkins, and is now used by the Church of Eng- 
land. The first edition of this work, in its complete 
form, appeared in 1698, accompanied by the royal 
authority, allowing its use " in all churches, chapels, and 
congregations, as should think fit to receive the same." 

lames JHerrick, ill. %. 

Mr. Merrick was a Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford ; 
and as a translator of the Psalms, he brought to the 
task, says Holland, in perhaps a greater degree than 
they had been combined in any previous versifier, the 
accomplishments of the scholar, the poet, and the 
Christian. Of his talents for poetry, the work by 
which he is now best known is an imperishable memo- 
rial : it was first printed in Reading, England, in 1765, 
under the title of " The Psalms translated, or para- 
phrased, in English Verse." Buj; whatever might be 
the merit of Merrick's compositions in a poetical point 
of view, they were not " calculated for the uses of public 
worship." To obviate this inconvenience, the Rev. W. 
D. Tattersall published an edition of the work, in 1797, 
" divided into stanzas for parochial use ;" in doing 
which, he found it necessary frequently to alter the 



76 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

original phraseology of the poet — a delicate task, but 
one which was admirably accomplished. 

ttniltom ill. Bunting 

Is a member of the British Conference, and the oldest 
son of Rev. Dr. Bunting, who is said to be the most 
influential minister of the Wesleyan Church. The son 
is unlike the father both in physical and mental confor- 
mation. Mr. West, in his very interesting work, lately 
published, entitled Sketches of Wesleyan Preachers, 
says, " He is tall and thin, of delicate, almost sickly 
appearance, and far from being of a robust constitution, 
with a fine benevolent countenance, a noble head, and a 
full massive forehead, bare of hair to a considerable 
elevation. From his appearance, no one would think 
him capable of performing the arduous labors of a 
Wesleyan itinerant preacher: at times, indeed, it seems 
scarcely probable that he can survive a change of 
sons ; and more than once he has been regarded as one 
going down to the tomb by gradual but certain ad- 
vances." 

Mr. Bunting is a man of extensive and varied learn- 
ing, and, as a preacher, has always been popular, and 
ranked deservedly high. His character for nobleness 
and generosity — for he is blessed with much of this 
world's goods — is proverbial ; and if he has a fault, it 
is because he sometimes exhibits too much freedom of 
speech and independence of action, being at all times, 
and under all circumstances, impatient of restraint. He 
is a writer of great power, his style bearing a strong 
resemblance to that of Dr. Johnson, to whom he is 
little inferior. Of this talent he made good use some 



METHODIST HYMNOLOOY. 77 

years ago, during the Warrenite controversy, when his 
Letters proved him to be one of the church's most 
powerful and efficient defenders. His introductory 
chapter to the Select Letters of the late talented and 
pious Mrs. Agnes Bulmer may also be mentioned as a 
specimen of profound thought elegantly expressed. 

As a poet, Mr. Bunting is of no mean order. Some 
of his contributions to the Wesleyan Methodist Maga- 
zine, over anonymous signatures, are as exquisite gems 
of sacred fugitive poetry as are to be found anywhere. 
He is also the author of a considerable number of the 
finest compositions to be found in Dr. Liefchild's volume 
of Original Hymns, recently published in England. 



Stomas QDlvotvs 

Is a name intimately and inseparably connected in life 
and in death with that of Wesley ; and for the part he 
performed in connection with that eminent and holy 
man, he deserves to be held in honored remembrance 
by Methodists until the latest generation. Neither the 
ribald jests of Sir Richard and Rowland Hill, whether 
delivered in prose or doggerel verse, nor the disdainful 
sarcasms of Augustus Toplady, could for a moment 
quench the burning zeal of this " fiery-minded Welsh- 
man," as Dr. Southey has been pleased to call this able 
defender of Scripture truth and experimental Chris- 
tianity. As the polemic advocate of Mr. Wesley and 
Arminianism, against the opposers of both, he did good 
service ; and his controversial writings, which deserve 
a place beside those of Fletcher and Sellon, will remain 
lasting memorials of his talents and usefulness, while 



78 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

his poetical effusions entitle him to a rank among the 
first class of hymnic composers. There is not, per- 
haps, in the language, a hymn which has elicited more 
universal praise than his " God of Abraham." He 
composed several other hymns, and the tunes to which 
they were originally sung, and also a " Descriptive and 
Plaintive Elegy on the Death of the late John Wesley." 
A few stanzas from this scarce tract, in which he de- 
scribes Mr. Wesley's pastoral care over his societies, 
will not be unacceptable to the reader : — 

" If e'er our lukewarm, souls grew cold and dead, 
And all his mild reproofs flew o'er our head, 
He changed his softer notes, and look'd with sterner brow, 
And fain would use the rod ; but 0, he knew not how ! 

" When feuds and contests rose, to wound our peace, 
His prudence soon prevail'd to make them cease : 
He heard our sad complaints ; then look : d, and meekly smiled ; 
We blush'd, and then shook hands, and so were reconciled. 

" Beset on every side with worldly cares, 
He warn'd us night and day, with many tears, 
To shun the dangerous road where twice ten thousand fell, 
Who barter'd grace for gold, and now lament in hell." 

Mr. Olivers was, for a number of years, Mr. Wesley's 
resident assistant editor of the Arminian Magazine, in 
which office he did not appear to advantage, having 
entered upon it too late in life, and was superseded by 
another in 1789. He, however, continued his residence 
in London, where he exercised his ministry, as the in- 
firmities of his age permitted, till March, 1799, when 
he died somewhat suddenly, aged seventy-four. His 
remains were deposited in Mr. Wesley's tomb, behind 
the City Road Chapel. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 19 



JUflhtoUr fytbtx, ®M., 

Bishop of Calcutta, was born in Yorkshire, England, 
in 1783. During the time he was pursuing his studies, 
he greatly distinguished himself by obtaining several 
prizes ; soon after which he was elected to a fellowship 
in All Souls College, when he went abroad, and tra- 
veled in Germany, Russia, and the Crimea. After his 
return home, he took his master's degree at Oxford, in 
1808, and about the same time was presented to the 
family living of Hodnet, and for several years devoted 
himself zealously to his duties as a parochial priest. 
On the death of Bishop Middleton, he was offered the 
see of Calcutta, which he accepted, and on the 16th of 
June, 1823, embarked for the East Indies. On Ascen- 
sion Day, 1824, Bishop Heber held his first visitation 
in the cathedral of Calcutta, and subsequently made 
visitations through various districts of his very exten- 
sive diocese. Having arrived at Tirutchinopoli, in the 
discharge of his episcopal duty, April 1, 1826, the next 
day, while bathing, he was seized with an apoplectic 
fit, of which he died. "From numerous tributes 
which have been paid to his memory, it appears that 
Bishop Heber was an excellent and virtuous man, a 
conscientious performer of his ministerial duties, and a 
zealous advocate of the cause of Christianity. " 

A small volume, entitled, "Hymns written and 
adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year. 
By the Right Rev. Reginald Heber, D.D., late Lord 
Bishop of Calcutta," was published in 1827. In rela- 
tion to these hymns, we find the following remarks in 
the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine for the same year : — 



80 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" They breathe a devout spirit, recognize the peculiar 
doctrines of Christianity, and, as poetical compositions, 
some of them possess considerable beauty ; but as a 
whole, they are incomparably inferior, both in language 
and sentiment, to the hymns of Charles Wesley. They 
are too imaginative for popular use ; and are not suf- 
ficiently experimental for those persons who have felt 
the sorrows of penitence, and the peace and joy which 
arise from a vital faith in Christ crucified." The bish- 
op's best composition in hyninic verse, and which has 
given him the greatest reputation, is his well-known 
Missionary Hymn. 

2lgne0 33itlmcr. 

This accomplished lady was perhaps the most talented 
female author that has yet adorned the walks of Meth- 
odist literature. Her intellect was highly cultivated, 
and her piety deep and enlightened. She lived on 
terms of intimacy with some of the greatest and most 
useful men of her times, and took a lively interest in the 
progress of true religion in the world, especially in the 
Wesleyan Church, of which she was long a zealous 
member. Her principal work is " Messiah's King- 
dom." She also wrote many smaller poems, that 
were published in the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, 
and was the author of several volumes of Scriptural 
biography, intended more especially for the use of 
young persons. Since her death, have appeared, in 
1842, her "Select Letters," with an Introduction and 
Notes by the Rev. William M. Bunting. The letters 
are highly characteristic, referring mostly to personal 
piety, and to passing circumstances connected with 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 81 

the spread of evangelical truth ; and the introduction 
and notes are valuable, the writer having "touched 
with a masterly hand, and in a truly Christian spirit, 
some of the most stirring controversies on ecclesiastical 
order which are agitated in the present day." 

Jtapl) $ctrt, 

" Late minister of the gospel in Je win- street," Lon- 
don, published in 1759, a volume of "Hymns on Va- 
rious Subjects. With the Author's Experience." The 
number of hymns, no less than nine, which this hum- 
ble volume contributes to the contents of the Hymn- 
book, justifies the following extract from the author's 
preface : " The following hymns were composed partly 
from several passages of Scripture laid on my heart, or 
opened to my understanding, from time to time, by the " 
Spirit of God, or else hinted to me by other Christians, 
(of which latter there are indeed very few :) partly 
from impressions felt under different frames of spirit at 
the times when they were respectively written, and 
partly from spontaneous impulses or serious reflec- 
tions on such subjects as accidentally occurred to my 

mind I desire wholly to submit them, with 

myself, to the all- wise disposal of that God, the sweet en- 
livening influences of whose blessed Spirit I often felt 
while they were composing. All I would humbly wish 
is, that Jesus of Nazareth, the mighty God, the Friend of 
sinners, would be pleased to make them in some mea- 
sure (weak and mean as they are) instrumental in set- 
ting forth his glory, propagating and enforcing the 
truths of the gospel, cheering the hearts of his people, 
and exalting his inestimable righteousness, upon which 
4* 



82 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

alone the unworthy author desires to rest the whole of 
his salvation." This pious wish has been signally- 
granted ; and though, like Cennick and Medley, he must 
be numbered among the least of the poets, some of 
his hymns have " become an imperishable inheritance 
to the people of God." Mr. Hart in doctrine was 
deeply Calvinistic. 

M)n Jarocett, JJ.5D. 

Dr. Fawcett was first brought under religious influ- 
ence by the preaching of Mr. Whitefield ; and, at the 
age of nineteen, he was baptized on a personal pro- 
fession of his faith, March 11, 17 5 8, and became a 
member of the Baptist Church in Bradford, over which 
he was ordained pastor in 1*764. He was the author 
of several works, both in prose and poetry ; the greatest 
of which was the " Devotional Family Bible," which he 
completed, after four years' labor, in 1811; the work 
forming two large quarto volumes. " And to give the 
publication," says Jones, in his Christian Biography, 
" an additional impetus, the degree of doctor in di- 
vinity was conferred upon him by one of the American 
colleges." In the year 1782 he published a small 
volume of " Hymns, adapted to Public Worship and 
Private Devotion ;" a new and corrected edition of 
which was issued in 1817. In the preface to this edi- 
tion the author says : " Nearly sixty years of his life 
have been employed in ministerial labors : he has seen 
more than one generation of his hearers pass away, 
and has witnessed many changes in the professing 
world ; but, during this period, his views of evangelical 
truth have remained the same. . . . These truths have 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGTT. 83 

been his consolation amidst many afflictions ; and, sup- 
ported by them, he is ready to say, with good old 
Simeon, ' Lord, noio lettest thou thy servant depart in 
peace ; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation :' " which 
prayer of his was answered on the 25th of July, 1817, 
when he "departed," in the seventy-seventh year of 
his age. 

Dr. Fawcett was a self-taught man, and could read 
the sacred Scriptures critically in their original lan- 
guages. "Asa Christian minister," says a biographer, 
"it is scarcely possible to speak of him beyond his 
merits. His instructions were enforced by the power- 
ful influence of a holy life ; for his character was uni- 
formly adorned with every Christian grace and virtue, 
though his unaffected humility and meekness, his fervent 
piety, and his ardent habitual devotion, were its most 
prominent features. . . . He took a lively interest in all 
those benevolent institutions which sprang up in his 
latter days, for the extension of the Redeemer's king- 
dom, such as the Bible, Missionary, and School So- 
cieties ; and promoted them to the utmost of his power." 
His doctrinal opinions were those of moderate Calvinism. 



fijenrg illore, ID. ft. 

This able divine was born in 1614. His parents being 
Calvinists, he was strictly educated in their principles ; 
but, much against their wishes, he rejected those rigid 
tenets, and, after a residence of three years at Eaton, 
entered Christ College, Cambridge, of which he was 
made a fellow in 1C39. In 1675 he obtained a pre- 
bend at Gloucester, which he soon after resigned in 
favor of his friend, Dr. Fowler ; and satisfied " with a 



84 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

small, but independent competency," rejected offers 
of high preferment, which he might have obtained. 
He died in 1687. He was the author of " Song of the 
Soule, a Platonic Poem." We know not whether he 
wrote any other hymns besides those in the Hymn-book. 

iUUltctm fjammoirtr, 

" Late of St. John's College, in Cambridge," published 
a volume of original " Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual 
Songs," in 1745. In this work first appeared the hymn 
in our collection by this author. 



It is a subject of no little interest and importance to 
ascertain the authorship of such hymns as were not 
composed by Charles Wesley. This we have endea- 
vored to do ; and the following list, it is believed, will 
be found correct. The authors of a few hymns are un- 
known. All the hymns in the Hymn-book, except those 
found in the following table, may, with great certainty, 
be assigned to Charles Wesley. 

By Rev. John Wesley : 

301. Come, Saviour, Jesus, from above. 

384. Commit thou all thy griefs. 
697. Eternal depth of love divine. 
193. Extended on a cursed tree. 

476. Father of all, whose powerful voice. 

385. Give to the winds thy fears. 
460. High on his everlasting throne. 

12. Ho ! every one that thirsts, draw nigh. 
307. Holy Lamb, who thee receive. 
548. How happy is the pilgrim's lot. 
283. Into thy gracious hands I fall. 
110. I thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 85 

354. Jesus, to thee my heart I bow. 
289. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness, 
321. Jesus, thy boundless love to me. 
1 85. Jesus, whose glory's streaming rays. 
285. Lo ! God is here, let us adore. 

74. My soul before Thee prostrate lies. 
399. Now I hare found the ground wherein. 
510. O God, my God, my all thou art. 
205. God, of good the unfathom'd sea. 
207. God, thou bottomless abyss. 
373. O God, what offering shall I give. 
335. Jesus, source of calm repose. 
120. O Sun of righteousness, arise. 
116. Thou, to whose all-searching sight. 
170. Thou who all things canst control. 
463. Saviour of men, thy searching eye. 
462. Shall I, for fear of feeble man. 
244. Thee will I love, my strength, my tower. 
304. Thou hidden love of God, whose height. 
396. Thou Lamb of God, thou Prince of peace. 
496. We lift our hearts to Thee. 
278. Ye simple souls, that stray. 

By Rev. Samuel Wesley, Sen. : 

188. Behold the Saviour of mankind. 
By Rev. Samuel Wesley, Jun. : 

689. Hail ! Father, whose creating call. 

522. The Lord of sabbath let us praise. 

568. The morning flowers display their sweets. 

By Dr. Watts: 

191. Alas ! and did my Saviour bleed. 
130. All glory to the dying Lamb. 
276. Almighty Maker, God. 

607. Am I soldier of the cross ? 
554. And must this body die ? 
266. Before Jehovah's awful throne. 
445. Bless'd arc the sons of peace. 

608. Behold the sure foundation stone. 
129. Como, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove. 



86 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

269. Come, let us join our cheerful songs. 
253. Come, ye that love the Lord. 
212. Eternal Power, whose high abode. 
203. Eternal Wisdom, thee we praise. 
201. Father, how wide thy glory shines. 
671. Give me the wings of faith to rise. 
466. Go, preach my gospel, saith the Lord. 
692. God is a name my soul adores. 

617. Great God, attend while Sion sings. 
115. Great God, indulge my humble claim. 

618. Great is the Lord our God. 

568. Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound. 
524. He dies, the Friend of sinners dies. 
456. How beauteous are their feet. 
27. How sad our state by nature is. 
161. How vain are all things here below. 
616. How pleasant, how divinely fair. 
675. How large the promise, how divine. 

262. I '11 praise my Maker while I 're breath. 
479. Jesus shall reign where'er the sun. 
246. Jesus, thou everlasting King. 

13. Let every mortal ear attend. 

263. Let every tongue thy goodness speak. 
443. Lo. what an entertaining sight. 

140. Lord, all I am is known to thee. 

257. Lord, how secure and bless'd arc they. 

502. Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear. 

501. Lord, tbou wilt hear me when I pray. 

19. Lord, we are vile, conceived in sin. 

631. Let Sion in her King rejoice, 

45. My drowsy powers, why sleep ye so. 

504. My God, how endless is thy love. 

109. My God, my life, my love. 

381. My God, my portion, and my love. 

261. My God, the spring of all my joys. 

271. My Saviour, my almighty Friend. 

553. God, our help in ages past. 

500. Once more, my soul, the rising day. 

295. O, 'tis delight, without alloy. 

190. Plunged in a gulf of dark despair. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 8*7 

264. Praise ye the Lord, 'tis good to raise. 

204. Praise ye the Lord, ye immortal choirs. 

267. Salvation, O the joyful sound. 

488. Shepherds rejoice, lift up your eyes. 

90. Show pity, Lord, O Lord forgive. 

526. Sweet is the work, my God, my King. 

500. That awful day will surely come. 

554. Thee we adore, eternal Name. 

539. There is a land of pure delight. 

509. Thus far the Lord hath led me on. 

633. The heavens declare thy glory, Lord. 

693. The Lord Jehovah reigns. 
528. Welcome, sweet day of rest. 
402. When I can read my title clear. 

565. Why do we mourn for dying friends ? 

44. Why should the children of a King ? 

562. Why should we start and fear to die 1 

379. With joy we meditate the grace. 

651. What equal honors shall we bring % 

By Dr. Doddridge : 

506. Awake, my soul, to meet the day. 
661. Eternal Source of every joy. 
673. Father of all, thy care we bless. 
663. God of my life, through all my days. 
615. Great God, thy watchful care we bless. 
471. Let Zion's watchmen all awake. 

694. Lord of the sabbath, hear our vows. 
682. O happy day that fix'd my choice. 

677. See Israel's gentle Shepherd stand. 
657. Sovereign of all the worlds on high. 
232. The King of heaven his table spreads. 

678. The Saviour, when to heaven he rose. 

By Rev. A. M. Toplady : 

609. Rock of ages, cleft for me. 

By JosEni Addison : 

388. The Lord my pasture shall prepare. 
298. The spacious firmanent on high. 



88 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

377. When all thy mercies, O my God. 
75. When rising from the bed of death. 

By Rev. John Newton : 

249. How tedious and tasteless the hours. 

387. Though troubles assail, and dangers affright. 

By William Cowper : 

389. God moves in a mysterious way. 
683. Hark, my soul, it is the Lord. 
89. O, for a closer walk with God. 

By Dr. Samuel Stexnett : 

546. On Jordan's stormy banks I stand. 

534. The counsels of redeeming grace. 
571. Thy life I read, my gracious Lord. 

By Rev. Joseph Stennett : 

695. Again our weekly labors end. 
529. Return, my soul, enjoy thy rest. 

By Ann Steele : 

668. Almighty Maker of my frame. 

535. Father of mercies, in thy word. 
231. Ye wretched, hungry, starving poor. 

By Rev. Robert Robinson : 

250. Come, thou Fount of every blessing. 
By Rev. John Bakewell : 

281. Hail! thou once despised Jesus. 

By Rev. John Cennick : 

382. Children of the heavenly King. 
380. Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone. 
520. The Saviour meets his flock to-day. 

By Rev. John Gambold : 

260. O tell me no more of this world's vain store. 
By Rev. John Mason : 

507. Now from the altar of our hearts. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 89 

By Bishop Kenn : 

606. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. 

By Tate and Brady : 

489. "While shepherds watch'd their flocks by night. 
619. With glory clad, with strength array'd. 

By Rev. James Merrick : 

696. Far as creation's bounds extend. 

By Jane Taylor : 

647. Thou who didst with love and blessing. 

By Rev. Wm. M. Bunting : 

680. O God, how often hath thine ear. 

By Mrs. Bulmer : 

610. Thou who hast in Sion laid. 

By Rev. Thomas Olivers : 

270. The God of Abraham praise. 
660. Though nature's strength decay. 

By Rev. Samuel Medley : 

200. Hark ! how the gospel trumpet sounds. 
491. Mortals awake, with angels join. 

By Dr. Fawcett : 

452. Bless'd be the tie that binds. 
20. Sinners, the voice of God regard. 

By John Dryden : 

655. Creator, Spirit, by whose aid. 
By Dr. Henry More : 

447. Father, if justly still we claim. 

458. On all the earth thy Spirit shower. 

By Bishop Heber : 

640. From Greenland's icy mountains. 
By Rev. Joseph Hart : 

585. Behold ! with awful pomp. 



90 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

2. Come, ye sinners, poor and needy. 
233. Glory to God on high. 
76. ! for a glance of heavenly day. 
475. Once more we come before our God. 
174. Prayer is appointed to convey. 
283. That doleful night before his death. 
272. This, this is the God we adore. 
570. Vain man, thy fond pursuits forbear. 

By Rev. William Hammond : 

122. Lord, we come before thee now. 

By J. Straphan : 

645. Mercy descending from above. 

By Maria de Fluery : 

684. Thou sweet gliding Kedron, by thy silver streams. 

By W. Budden : 

664. Come, let our voices join. 

By Scott : 

503. See how the morning sun. 

By Mrs. Palmer : 

644. As wave on wave, years pass away. 

642. Go, holy book, thou word divine. 

639. Listen! O Sion! Jehovah hath spoken. 
641 . Lord, haste to claim thy purchased right. 

643. The God of heaven reveals to man. 
624. To thee, thou high and lofty One. 
685. Thou Fount of every good required. 
623. Behold thy temple, God of grace. 

By Dr. Kennaday : 

611. Great God ! who laid on Sion's mount. 

612. O Thou, before whose lofty throne. 

613. Surely the Lord is here, 

By Hart and Watts : 

234. Celestial Dove, descend from high. 






METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 91 

By Watts and Wesley : 

268. From all that dwell below the skies. 
235. My Saviour's pierced side. 

By authors unknown : 

487. All hail ! happy day. 

248. Come, thou almighty King. 

139. In boundless mercy, gracious Lord, appear. 

587. Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing. 

124. My hope, myall, my Saviour thou. 

547. My span of life will soon be done. 

273. O thou God of my salvation. 

391. Peace, troubled soul, thou need'st not fear. 

The hymns in the Hymn-book are numbered as 697 ; 
but many of them are composed of two or more parts. 
If each part were counted as a separate hymn, (as is 
the case in the English Hymn-book,) then the number 
would be considerably increased, and would correspond 
with the number of first lines in the "Index to the 
Verses." But, according to the present arrangement, 
the book does not contain near so many hymns as the 
index indicates. When classified agreeably to their 
respective authors, they will stand thus : — 

John Wesley 34 

Samuel Wesley, Sen 1 

Samuel Wesley, Jun 3 

Dr. Watts 68 

Dr. Doddridge 12 

Augustus Toplady 1 

Addison 4 

John Newton 2 

Cowper 3 

Dr. Samuel Stcnnett 3 

Joseph Stcnnett 2 

Robert Robinson 1 

Miss Steele 3 



92 METHODIST HYMKOLOGY. 

John Bakewell 1 

John Cennick 3 

John Gambold 1 

John Mason 1 

Bishop Kenn 1 

Tate and Brady 2 

James Merrick I 

Jane Taylor. 1 

William M. Bunting 1 

Mrs. Buhner 1 

Thomas Olivers 2 

Samuel Medley 2 

Dr.Fawcett 2 

Dryden 1 

Dr. Henry More 2 

Bishop Heber I 

Joseph Hart 9 

William Hammond •. 1 

J. Straphan 1 

Marie De Fleury 1 

W. Budden 1 

Scott 1 

Mrs. Palmer 8 

Dr. Kcnnaday 3 

Hart and Watts 1 

Watts and Wesley 2 

Authors unknown 8 

Charles Wesley 501 

697 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 93 



PART II. 

COMPREHENDING NOTICES OF THE POETICAL WORKS OF 
JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY. 

In the year 1738, John and Charles Wesley became 
acquainted with Peter Bohler, a minister of the Mora- 
vian Church, from whom they received " an evangelical 
view of the promises of a free justification or pardon of 
sin, through the atonement of Christ alone," and im- 
mediately began to preach this doctrine. They and a 
few others now formed themselves into a religious 
society, which met in Fetter-lane. " It appears to have 
been about this period," says Mr. Jackson, " that the 
Wesleys published their first Hymn-book, probably 
for the use of this society, at its weekly meetings, as 
well as for private, domestic, and social use — for they 
were accustomed to devotional singing in their general 
intercourse with their friends. It is a small duodecimo 
volume of eighty-four pages, and bears the title of 
'A Collection of Psalms and Hymns. London: 
Printed in the Year MDCCXXXVIII.' It has no 
printer's name, and no preface, to determine its au- 
thorship, but its general cast of sentiment is exactly 
that of the two Wesleys, just before they obtained 
the Christian salvation. The hymns are selected 
from various authors, chiefly Dr. Watts : but some are 
original, and these they afterward published in their 
joint names. Five are from the German, and one is 
from the Spanish. Most of these, Mr. John Wesley 
subsequently inserted in the collection which he form- 
ed for the use of the Methodist congregations." 



94 METHODIST HYMNOLOGT. 

The volume here described the writer has never seen, 
nor is it mentioned in the list of poetical publications in 
the last volume of Mr. "Wesley's Works ; and the only- 
additional information to the above he has been able to 
obtain, is the incidental allusion to the Hymn-book, 
contained in the following extract from the Wesleyan 
Methodist Magazine :* " In October of the same year 
(1*738) he (J. Wesley) expounded at three societies in 
Oxford, and was grieved to find ' prudence had made 
one of them leave off singing of psalms.' He had just 
then published a small collection of twenty -three psalms 
and forty-six hymns, price 8d. ; designed, no doubt, for 
such communities — not having as yet established any 
separate society of his own." 

In the year 1739 they published a volume, bearing 
the title, " Hymns and Sacred Poems. By John Wes- 
ley, M. A., Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, and 
Charles Wesley, M. A., Student of Christ Church, 
Oxford." It is a duodecimo of two hundred and 
twenty-three pages. The preface to this volume, 
remarks Mr. Jackson, is a document of very superior 
value, and distinctly points out the change which had 
taken place in the theological views of the writers. They 
say : " Some verses, it may be observed, in the following 
collection, were wrote upon the scheme of the mystic 
divines. And these, it is owned, we once had in 
great veneration, as the best explainers of the gospel 
of Christ. But we are now convinced that we therein 
greatly erred, not knowing the Scriptures, neither the 
power of God." 

* Vol. lxviii, 1845, page 1076. Art., " Methodism in Former 
Days." By Thomas Marriott, Esq. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 95 

This volume consists principally of their own com- 
positions, with twenty-one translations from the Ger- 
man, two from the French, one from the Spanish, and 
one from the Latin. It also contains one hymn by 
Samuel Wesley, Sen., and his poem called "Eupolis's 
Hymn to the Creator," which appears here as a trans- 
lation from the Greek ; but Dr. Clarke thinks this is a 
mistake, as he has not been able to find the original in 
the works of any Greek author to which he has had 
access, nor could his literary friends give him any light 
upon the subject. He, therefore, ascribes it to Mr. 
Wesley, but thinks he may have been assisted in its 
composition by his accomplished daughter, Mrs. Wright. 
The doctor has inserted this poem, which, he says, 
possesses " exquisite merit," in his " Wesley Family," 
in a more perfect form than it ever appeared before. 
Besides those mentioned, there are twenty poems from 
Herbert, six from Gambold, one from Dr. Hicks, and 
one altered from Dr. Henry More. 

There is a poem in the volume which gives some 
idea of the "defective creed and gloomy feelings" 
of John and Charles Wesley, or, as another biographer 
of the brothers expresses it, of their " general cast of 
sentiment," just about the time they published their 
first Hymn-book. It was written by Charles Wesley, 
is entitled a " Hymn for Midnight," and is here sub- 
joined. 

" While midnight shades the earth o'erspread, 

And veil the bosom of the deep, 
Nature reclines her weary head, 

And care respires, and sorrows sleep : 
My soul still aims at nobler rest, 
Aspiring to her Saviour's breast. 



96 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Aid me, ye hov'ring spirits near, 

Angels, and ministers of grace ; 
Who ever, while you guard us here, 

Behold your heavenly Fathers face ! 
Gently my raptured soul convey 
To regions of eternal day. 

" Fain would I leave this earth below, 

Of pain and sin the dark abode ; 
Where shadowy joy, or solid woe, 

Allures or tears me from my God ; 
Doubtful and insecure of bliss, 
Since death alone confirms me his. 

" Till then, to sorrow born, I sigh, 

And gasp, and languish after home ; 

Upward I send my streaming eye, 
Expecting till the Bridegroom come : 

Come quickly, Lord, thy own receive ; 

Now let me see thy face and live. 

" Absent from thee, my exiled soul, 

Deep in a fleshy dungeon groans ; 
Around me clouds of darkness roll, 

And laboring silence speaks my moans : 
Come quickly, Lord ! thy face display, 
And look my darkness into day. 

" Sorrow, and sin, and death, are o'er, 
If thou reverse the creature's doom : 
Sad Rachel weeps her loss no more, 

If thou, the God, the Saviour come ; 
Of thee possess'd, in thee we prove. 
The light, the life, the heaven of love." 

To this fine composition his brother afterward gave 
an evangelical character, by substituting the word 
"faith" for "death," in the last line of the third 
stanza, " Thus altered, it no longer appears as the 
desponding language of a real Christian, expecting to 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 97 

be made free from sin and its attendant misery only by 
the body's dissolution ; but is the prayer of a weeping 
penitent, who is convinced of his guilt and corruption, 
and is looking for a present deliverance from them 
through faith in the blood of the atonement." 

The alteration was made by Mr. John Wesley, when 
he prepared for publication his large Hymn-book, 
wherein the third verse of the poem is the beginning 
of a hymn which comprises the remaining stanzas, with 
a few other verbal alterations. This hymn not being 
in the M. E. Hymn-book, and as it seems to illustrate 
a very important epoch in the lives of the brothers, and 
also furnishes a fine specimen of the earlier composi- 
tions of Charles Wesley, the writer gives it entire ; for 
which he will doubtless receive the thanks of the 
reader. A number of other poems will meet his eye 
during his perusal of this work, which are for the first 
time presented to the notice of American readers. 

But interesting as the foregoing poem will be deemed 
as a record of the religious views and feelings of the 
brothers a short time previous to their conversion ; not 
less so will be the following pious effusion addressed 
by Charles to his brother, just after he had experienced, 
by faith in Christ, the evidence of sins forgiven, and his 
adoption into the family of heaven. 

CONGRATULATION TO A FRIEND, UPON BELIEVING IN 
CHRIST. 
What morn on thee with sweeter ray, 
Or brighter lustre, e'er hath shined 1 
Be bless'd the memorable day 

That gave thee Jesus Christ to find : 
Gave thee to taste his pard'ning grace, 
From death to life in him to pass ! 
5 



98 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

O how diversified the scene, 

Since first that heart began to beat ! 

Evil and few thy days have been ; 
In suffering, and in comfort, great; 

Oft hast thou groan'd beneath thy load, 

And sunk into the arms of God ! 

Long did all hell its power engage, 

And fill'd thy darken'd soul with fears : 

Baffled at length the dragon's rage, 
At length th' atoning blood appears : 

Thy light is come, thy mourning 's o'er, 

Look up ; for thou shalt weep no more. 

Bless'd be the Name that sets thee free, 
The Name that sure salvation brings! 

The Sun of righteousness on thee 
Has rose, with healing in his wings : 

Away, let grief and sighing flee ; 

Jesus hath died for thee— for thee ! 

And will he now forsake his own ? 

Or lose the purchase of his blood ! 
No ! for he looks with pity down, 

He watches over thee for good ; 
Gracious he eyes thee from above, 
And guards and feeds thee with his love. 

Since thou wast precious in his sight, 
How highly favor d hast thou been ! 

Upborne by faith to glory's height, 

The Saviour- God thine eyes have seen, 

Thine heart has felt its sins forgiven, 

And tastes anticipated heaven. 

Still may his love thy fortress be, 
And make thee still his darling care, 

Settle, confirm, and 'stablish thee, 
On eagle's wings thy spirit bear, 

Fill thee with heavenly joy, and shed 

His choicest blessings on tby head. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 99 

Thus may he comfort thee below, 

Thus may he all his graces give : 
Him but in part thou here canst know, 

Yet here by faith submit to live ; 
Help me to fight my passage through, 
Nor seize thy heaven, till I may too. 

Or if the sovereign, wise decree, 
First number thee among the bless'd, 

(The only good I 'd envy thee,) 
Translating to an earlier rest ; 

Near, in thy latest hour, may I 

Instruct, and learn of thee to die. 

Mix'd with the choirs that hover round, 

And all the adverse powers control, 
Angel of peace, may I be found 

To animate thy parting soul ; 
Point out the crown, and smooth the way 
To regions of eternal day. 

Fired with the thought, I see thee now 

Triumphant meet the King of fears ! 
Steadfast thy heart, serene thy brow ; 

Divinely confident appears 
Thy mounting soul, and spreads abroad, 
And swells to be dissolved in God. 

Is this the soul so late weigh'd down 
By cares and sins, by griefs and pains ? 

Whither are all thy terrors gone ? 
Jesus for thee the vict'ry gains ; 

And death, and sin, and Satan, yield 

To faith's unconquerable shield. 

Bless'd be the God that calls thee home ; 

Faithful to thee his mercies prove ; 
Through death's dark vale he bids thee come, 

And more than conquer through his love ; 
Robes thee in righteousness divine, 
And makes thy crown of glory shine. 



100 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Another poem in the volume deserves to be inserted 
here, not less on account of its own intrinsic worth as 
a literary performance, than of the manner in which it 
has been referred to in Southey's Life of Wesley. The 
late Alexander Knox, Esq., in his "Remarks on the 
Life and Character of John Wesley," published in that 
very interesting but in many respects defective work, 
says : — 

" Mr. Southey may reasonably ask, on what ground 
I have thus associated Lucas with Taylor, in John Wes- 
ley's early institution? My answer is, that a hymn, 
which manifests J. W.'s peculiar manner, entitled Zeal, 
is to be found in his first volume of Hymns, which, 
while it expresses the highest soarings of a morally 
ambitious mind, is, from beginning to end, a close versi- 
fication of a passage in Lucas, in which, under the term 
of zeal, the highest supposable state of grace on 
earth is vividly, and, I might say, sublimely, deli- 
neated."* 



Dead as I am, and cold my breast, 
Untouch'd by thee, celestial zeal, 

How shall I sing th' unwonted guest ? 
How paint the joys I cannot feel ? 

Assist me. Thou, at whose command 
The heart exults, from earth set free 

'Tis thine to raise the drooping hand, 
Thine to confirm the feeble knee. 

'Tis zeal must end this inward strife, 
Give me to know that warmth divine ! 

Through all my verse, through all my life, 
The active principle shall shine. 

* Life of Wesley. (Harper's edition.) vol. n, p. 375. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 10J 

Where shall we find its high abode ? 

To heaven the sacred ray aspires, 
With ardent love embraces God, 

Parent and object of its fires. 

There its peculiar influence known, 

In breasts seraphic learns to glow ; 
Yet, darted from th' eternal throne, 

It sheds a cheering light below. 

Through earth diffused, the active flame 

Intensely for God's glory burns, 
And always mindful whence it came, 

To heaven in every wish returns. 

Yet vain the fierce enthusiast's aim, 

With this to sanctify his cause ; 
To screen beneath this awful name 

The persecuting sword he draws. 

In vain the mad fanatic's dreams 

To this mysteriously pretend ; 
On fancy built his airy schemes, 

Or slight the means, or drop the end. 

Where zeal holds on its even course, 

Blind rage and bigotry retires ; 
Knowledge assists, not checks its force, 

And prudence guides, not damps, its fires. 

Resistless, then, it wins its way ; 

Yet deigns in humble hearts to dwell : 
Ye humble hearts, confess its sway, 

And pleased the strange expansion feel. 

Superior far to mortal things, 

In greatful ecstasy they own, — 
Such antedated heaven it brings, — 

The zeal and happiness are one. 

Now varied deaths their terrors spread, 
Now threat'ning thousands rage — in vain ! 

Nor tortures can arrest its speed, 
Nor worlds its energy restrain. 



102 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

That energy which quells the strong, 

Which clothes with strength the abject weak, 

Looses the stammering infant's tongue, 
And bids the sons of thunder speak. 

While zeal its heavenly influence sheds, 
What light o'er Moses' visage plays ! 

It wings th' immortal prophets' steeds, 
And brightens fervent Stephen's face. 

Come, then, bright flame ! my breast inspire ; 

To mc, to me, be thou but given, 
Like them I 11 mount my car of fire, 

Or view from earth an op'ning heaven. 

Come thou, if mighty to redeem, 

Christ purchased thee with blood divine : 

Come, holy zeal ! for thou, through him, 
Jesus himself, through thee, is mine. 

We are indebted to the same volume for forty-nine 
hymns, now contained in the Methodist Episcopal 
Hymn-book. The first line of each hymn, its number 
in the Hymn-book, and the names of the respective 
authors, are given below. 

The following were composed by Charles Wesley : — 

287. And can it be that I should gain. 
480. Arm of the Lord, awake, awake ! 
118. Being of beings, God of love. 
365. Come, Holy Ghost, all-quick'ning fire. 

56. Enslaved to sense, to pleasure prone. 
397. Eternal beam of light divine. 

28. Father of lights, from whom proceeds. 

72. Fain would I go to thee, my God. 
410. Fondly my foolish heart essays. 

71. God of my life, what just return. 
265. Glory be to God on high. 
490. Hark ! the herald angels sing. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 103 

648. Hail ! the day that sees him rise. 
104. Jesus, my Advocate above. 

66. Jesus, the sinner's Friend, to thee. 
625. Jesus, my God and King. 
308. Jesus, thou art our King. 

65. Lord, I despair myself to heal. 
406. Peace, doubting heart, my God's I am. 

649. Sons of God, triumphant rise. 
186. Saviour, the world's and mine. 
342. Since the Son hath made me free. 
472. Steel me to shame, reproach, disgrace. 
197. Where shall my wond'ring soul begin ? 

The following were translated from the German, by 
John Wesley : — 

384. Commit thou all thy griefs. 
697. Eternal depth of love divine. 

385. Give to the winds thy fears. 
283. Into thy gracious hands I fall. 
185. Jesus, whose glory's streaming rays. 
354. Jesus, to thee my heart I bow. 
321. Jesus, thy boundless love to me. 
285. Lo ! God is here, let us adore. 

321. My Saviour, thou thy love to me. (2d part.) 

74. My soul before Thee prostrate lies. 
373. God, what offering shall I give 1 
170. O Thou, who all things canst control. 
116. O Thou, to whose all-searching sight. 
205. O God of good, th' unfathom'd sea. 
207. O God, thou bottomless abyss. 
335. O Jesus, source of calm repose. 
463. Saviour of men, thy searching eye. 
462. Shall I, for fear of feeble man. 
304. Thou hidden love of God, whose height. 
396. Thou Lamb of God, thou Prince of peace. 
244. Thee will I love, my strength, my tower. 
207. Thou true and only God,lead'st forth. (2d part.) 



104 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

The next two are also translations by the same hand, 
the first from the Simnish, the second from the French : 

510. God, my God, my all thou art. 
301. Come, Saviour, Jesus, from above. 

The following two are altered from Dr. Henry- 
More : — 

457. Father, if justly still we claim. 

458. On all the earth thy Spirit shower. 

The hymn by Mr. Samuel Wesley, Senior, com- 
mences : — 

188. Behold the Saviour of mankind, &c. 

Besides the above, in this work were first published 
the four hymns in the Hymn-book of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, commencing, 

" And live I yet by power divine f" 
" Christ, the Lord, is risen to-day." 
" Sons of God, exulting rise." 
" Lord and God of heavenly powers." 

Also, the seven hymns in the Hymn-book used by 
the Wesleyan Methodist Church in England, Canada, 
and its numerous missions throughout the world, by 
the Rev. Charles Wesley : — 

" Arise, my soul, arise, Thy Saviour," &c. 

" Fain would I leave this earth below." 

" High above every name." 

u My God, if I may call thee mine." 

" filial Deity." 

" Summon'dmy labor to renew." 

" Thee, O my God and King." 

And the following two, by the Rev. John Wesley, 
translated from the German : — 

" Thou true and only God, lead'st forth." 
" O God of gods, in whom combine." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 105 

The volume under notice was republished the same 
year (1739) in an abridged form, with the same title ; 
the preface and many of the poems being omitted. 
The abridgment has 160 pages ; the original work 223. 
There were eight poems inserted in the abridgment 
that were not in the first edition of the larger volume, 
three of which were inserted in subsequent editions of 
that work, and four more in another work bearing the 
same title, and published the following year ; so that 
the abridgment in reality contains but one poem not 
found in some one or other of the volumes just men- 
tioned, and that is a short one of twenty-four lines from 
Herbert, entitled "A Single Eye." In the list of the 
Rev. Messrs. John and Charles Wesley's poetical pub- 
lications in the seventh volume of Mr. J. Wesley's 
Works, page 593, the abridgment appears as No. II. 
This list was compiled by the Rev. Mr. Jackson while 
editing the complete standard English edition of Mr. 
Wesley's Works, (from which the American edition was 
republished,) in the year 1831; and ten years later, 
when wiiting the Life of the Rev. Charles Wesley, he 
seems still to be under the mistaken impression that 
the volume of hymns published in the year 1739, and 
the abridgment of that work the same year, were two 
distinct works, as will appear from the following 
extract. The author is speaking of the "sweetness 
and power of the singing " of early Methodists in their 
religious meetings : " This," says he, " was a part of 
divine worship in which the brothers took a lively in- 
terest from the beginning of their public labors ; and 
as they both possessed the gift and spirit of sacred 
poetry, they applied themselves to the composition of 
hymns adapted to the use and edification of those who 
5* 



106 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

united with them in the worship of God. Soon after 
their return from Georgia, as we have already seen, 
they published a volume of hymns for this purpose ; 
and this year they added two others of a similar kind, 
but more varied in their subjects, and more evangelical 
in their character. To both these volumes they gave 
the same title : ' Hymns and Sacred Poems. Published 
by John Wesley, M. A., Fellow of Lincoln College, 
Oxford ; and Charles Wesley, M. A., Student of Christ 
Church, Oxford.' They were ' printed by W. Strahan,' 
and sold by their friend ' James Hutton, bookseller, at 
the Bible and Sun, without Temple Bar ; and at Mr. 
Bray's, in Little Britain.' Such was the demand for 
these volumes, that one of them passed to a second edi- 
tion the same year ; and the other to a third. That 
which appears to have been first published begins witli 
'Eupolis his Hymn to the Creator,' written by the 
rector of Epworth." 

The " other " volume, alluded to above, was merely an 
abridgment of the same work. Both the larger work 
and the abridgment are before the writer ; hence there 
can be no mistake, on his part, in reference to what is 
here stated. 

During the year 1*740 the two Wesleys issued a 
third volume* of hymns by no means inferior to its 
predecessor in poetic excellence, or Christian character, 
and its title is the same as that work bears, namely, 
" Hymns and Sacred Poems," and contains para 
phrases of the 55th chapter of Isaiah, and the 116 

* In the year 1743 this and the preceding volume of hymn 
were reprinted and hound together so as to form one volume 
The " fifth edition" was published in 1756. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 107 

chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews; six 
admirable translations from the German, undoubtedly 
from the pen of John ; and four hymns, all of which 
were probably addressed to Mr. Whitefield, entitled, 
" To the Rev. Mr. Whitefield," — " To the same before 
his Voyage," — " A Hymn to be sung at Sea," — " In a 
Storm." 

The volume also comprises a fine hymn " For the 
Kings wood Colliers ;" and another for " The Anniver- 
sary of One's Conversion," from which was taken the 
hymn in our collection, commencing, 

" for a thousand tongues to sing," 
which originally had eighteen stanzas. But the most 
remarkable hymn in the volume, says Mr. Jackson, is 
one entitled, "The Just shall live by Faith," which de- 
scribes Charles Wesley's religious history up to this 
period of his life. It contains twenty-two verses, and 
is given in the English edition of his Life, and would be 
inserted here entire were it not for its great length. 
Some extracts, however, will doubtless be acceptable 
to the reader : — 

" For ten long legal years I lay 
A helpless, though reluctant, prey 

To pride, and lust, and earth, and hell: 
Oft to repentance vain renew'd, 
Self-confident for hours I stood, 
And fell, and grieved, and rose, and fell. 
# # # # 

" Hardly at last I all gave o'er, 
I sought to free myself no more, 

Too weak to burst the fowler's snare ; 
Baffled by twice ten thousand foils, 
I ceased to struggle in the toils, 
And yielded to a just despair. 



108 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" 'Twas then my soul beheld from far 
The glimm'ring of an orient star, 

That pierced and cheer'd my nature's night : 
Sweetly it dawn'd, and promised day, 
Sorrow and sin it chased away, 

And open'd into glorious light. 

" With other eyes I now could see 
The Father reconciled to me, 

Jesus, the Just, had satisfied ; 
Jesus had made my sufferings his, 
Jesus was now my righteousness, 

Jesus for me had lived and died. 



" Convinced my work was but begun, 
How did I strive, and grieve, and groan ! 

Half yielded, yet refused to yield ! 
Tempted to give my Saviour up — 
Deny my Lord, abjure my hope, 

And basely cast away my shield. 



> 



" But ! his tyranny is o'er ! 
How shall my rescued soul adore 

Thy strange, thy unexampled grace ! 
A brand pluck'd from the fire I am ! 
O Saviour, help me to proclaim, 

Help me to show forth all thy praise !" 

Some of the hymns in this volume, observes Mr. 
Jackson, are among the finest in the English language, 
and display a deep pathos, with all the energy and 
daring of Charles's genius. The following hymn, de- 
scribing a storm at sea, exhibits the writer's mighty 
faith and power of expression. It was addressed to 
Mr. Whitefield, on his embarking a second time for 
America : — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 109 

" Glory to Thee, whose powerful word 
Bids the tempestuous winds arise : 
Glory to thee, the sovereign Lord 
Of air, and earth, and seas, and skies ! 

" Let air, and earth, and skies, ohey, 
And seas thine awful will perform : 
From them we learn to own Thy sway, 
And shout to meet the gath'ring storm. 

" What though the floods lift up their voice. 
Thou hearest, Lord, our louder cry : 
They cannot damp thy children's joys, 
Or shake the soul, when God is nigh. 

" Headlong we cleave the yawning deep, 
And back to highest heaven are borne, 
Unmoved, though rapid whirlwinds sweep, 
And all the wat'ry world upturn. 

" Roar on, ye waves ! our soul defy 
Your roaring to disturb our rest ; 
In vain t' impair the calm ye try, 
The calm in a believer's breast. 

" Rage, while our faith the Saviour tries, 
Thou sea, the servant of his will ; 
Rise, while our God permits thee rise : 
But fall when he shall say, Be still ! " 

It is to this volume that Mr. Whitefield alludes in a 
letter to C. Wesley, written on his voyage to America, 
dated Feb. 1st, 1741, wherein he says: "My dear 
brethren, why did you throw out that bone of conten- 
tion ? Why did you [John] print that sermon against 
predestination ? Why did you, in particular, my dear 
Charles, affix your hymn, and join in putting out your 
late Hymn-book ? How can you say you will not dis- 
pute with me about election, and yet print such hymns ?" 
In his celebrated " Letter to Rev. J. Wesley," he writes 
thus : " Instead of pawning your salvation, as you have 



110 METHODIST HYMN0L0GY. 

done, in a late Hymn-book, if the doctrine of universal 
redemption be not true ; instead of talking of sinless 
perfection, as you have done in the preface to that 
Hymn-book, and making man's salvation depend upon 
his own free will, as you have in this sermon ; you will 
compose a hymn in praise of sovereign, distinguishing 
love. You will caution believers against striving to 
work a perfection out of their own hearts, and print 
another sermon the reverse of this, and entitle it Free 
Grace indeed— /ree, not because free to all, but free, 
because God may withhold or give it to whom and 
when he pleases." This will be new doctrine to Me- 
thodist readers. 

The hymn of C. Wesley, referred to by Mr. White- 
field, comprises thirty-six stanzas, which he poured 
forth in the fullness of his heart in praise of God's 
universal love to man. The following five stanzas are a 
specimen of this very spirited poem : — 

" Stir up thy strength, and help us, Lord, 
The preachers multiply; 
Scud forth thy light, and give thy word, 
And let the shadows fly. 

" 0, if thy Spirit send forth me, 
The meanest of the throng, 
I'll sing thy grace divinely free, 
And teach mankind the song. 

" Grace will I sing, through Jesus' name, 
On all mankind bestow'd ; 
The everlasting truth proclaim, 
And seal that truth with blood. 

" Come, then, thou all-embracing Love, 
Our frozen bosoms warm ; 
Dilating fire, within us move, 

With truth and meekness arm. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGT. Ill 

" Let us triumphantly ride on, 

And more than conq'rors prove, 

With meekness bear th' opposers down, 

And bind with cords of love ! " 

The following hymns, in the Methodist Hymn-book, 
by C. Wesley, appeared originally in this volume : — 

67. And can I yet delay 1 (2d pt.) 
176. Author of faith, eternal Word. 
592. Abraham, when severely tried. 

62. And wilt Thou yet be found ? 

420. Come, thou high and lofty Lord. (2d pt.) 

531. Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire. 
361. Come, Holy Ghost, all-quick'ning fire. 
420. Come, and let us sweetly join. 

447. Christ, from whom all blessings flow. 

92. Depth of mercy ! can there be. 
626. Earth, rejoice, our Lord is King. 

305. For ever here my rest shall be. 

532. Father of all, in whom alone. 

483. Glory to God, whose sovereign grace. 
386. God of my life, whose gracious power. 
446. Giver of concord, Prince of peace. 

12. Ho ! every one that thirsts, draw nigh. 
333. Heavenly Father, sovereign Lord. 
383. How do thy miseries close me round. 
670. Infinite God, thy greatness spann'd. (2d pt.) 
367. I want the Spirit of power within. 

33. Jesus, if still the same thou art. 

68. Jesus, Redeemer, Saviour, Lord. (2d pt.) 
125. Jesus, the all-restoring Word. 

60. Jesus, in whom the weary find. 
35. Jesus, lover of my soul. 

63. Jesus, if still thou art to-day. 

353. Jesus, in whom the Godhead's rays. 

306. Jesus, my life, thyself apply. 
670. Lord of the wide, extensive main. 

1. Look unto Him, ye nations ; own. (2d pt.) 
420. Let us join, 'tis God commands. (3d pt.) 



112 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

79. Long have I seem'd to serve thee, Lord. 
323. Lord, I believe a rest remains. 

26. My sufferings all to thee are known. 

73. My God, my God, to thee I cry. 
318. My God I know, I feel, thee mine. 

68. that thou wouldst the heavens rent. 
1. for a thousand tongues to sing. 

97. why did I my Saviour leave. 
420. Partners of a glorious hope. (4th pt.) 

81. Still for thy loving kindness, Lord. 
241. Talk with us, Lord, thyself reveal. 
175. Thou, Lord, hast hless'd my going out. 

63. While dead in trespasses I lie. (2d pt.) 
333. Where the ancient dragon lay. (2d part.) 

67. When shall thy love constrain. 
359. When shall I see the welcome hour. 

34. Wherewith, God, shall I draw near. 

The following, translations from the German, by 
John Wesley : — 

193. Extended on a cursed tree. 

307. Holy Lamb, who thee receive. 

110. I thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God. 

289. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness. 

399. Now I have found the ground wherein. 

Also, three hymns in the Hymn-book of the M. E. 
Church, South, by C. Wesley : — 

M Brethren in Christ, and well-beloved." 
" Glory to Thee, whose powerful word." 
K disclose thy lovely face.*' 

And the following, in the Wesleyan Hymn-book, by 
C.Wesley:— 

<: Author of faith, appear." 
" Christ, our Head, gone up on high." 
" Father, Son, and Spirit, hear." 
t: Other ground can no man lay." 
" Regardless now of things below." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 113 

The preface to this volume contains, says Mr. Wes- 
ley, " the strongest account we ever gave of Christian 
perfection." Some expressions he afterward considered 
far too strong, which are corrected and qualified in the 
fifth volume of his works, page 492, where a part of 
the preface is quoted. 

In the year 1742 there appeared a fourth volume 
of hymns bearing the same title as two which preceded 
it, namely, "Hymns and Sacred Poems," by John and 
Charles Wesley, though nearly the whole contents were 
undoubtedly the productions of Charles. It passed to 
a second edition in 1745. A copy of each edition now 
lies before the writer. The work is exceedingly scarce, 
and is seldom seen even in England ; it contains over 
three hundred pages, and is certainly not inferior in 
poetic merit to any of the numerous poetical works pub- 
lished by the brothers. Its contribution to the stock 
of standard Methodist hymns is greater than that of 
any other single volume of their poetry, being over one 
hundred, among which is that highly admired poem, so 
well known by the title of " Wrestling Jacob," com- 
mencing, 

" Come, O thou Traveler unknown." 

The entire volume is rich in poetry and Christian ex- 
perience. It contains paraphrases of the fortieth and 
sixty-third chapters of Isaiah, two dialogues between 
" Angels and Men," seven " Hymns for Children," one 
of which, commencing, — 

" Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, 
Look upon a little child," 

is well known and much admired ; also that noble para- 



114 METHODIST HYMNOLGY. 

phrase of the Lord's prayer, by the Rev. John Wesley, 
which is hymn 4*76 of our collection, and a trans- 
lation of a German hymn of considerable length, which 
shows, says Mr. Jackson, that although the brothers 
no longer held their former intercourse with the Mora- 
vian Church in England, because of the errors which 
Molther introduced, and Count Zinzendorf defended, and 
mixed with others equally dangerous, they still cherish- 
ed toward the genuine members of that community the 
most cordial esteem and love. The subjoined stanzas 
are a proof of this : — 

" He prospers all his servants' toils, 

But of peculiar grace has chose 
A flock on whom his kindest smiles, 

And choicest blessings, he bestows ; 
Devoted to their common Lord, 

True followers of the bleeding Lamb, 
By God beloved, by men abhorr'd, 

And Hernhuth is the favorite name ! 

" Here many a faithful soul is found, 

With mystic power of love endued, 
Full of the light of life, and crown'd 

A king and priest to serve his God ; 
With flaming zeal for Christ they shine, 

Their body, soul, and spirit, give, 
To Christ their goods and blood resign, 

For Christ they freely die and live." 

These two verses are part of the excellent hymn, — 

" High on his everlasting throne," &c. 

The hymn in the English Hymn-book, beginning, 
"What shall we offer our good Lord?" is part of 
the same composition: but the translation was cer- 
tainly made by John Wesley ; although Mr. La Trobe, 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 115 

editor of the English edition of the Life of Zinzen- 
dorf, says, it may admit of question whether that fine 
hymn " was translated by one of the "Wesleys, or by 
Gambold." 

The following hymns are from this very valuable 
volume : — 

80. A goodly, formal saint. (2d part.) 
390. Away, my unbelieving fear. 

11. Awake, Jerusalem, awake. 
329. An inward baptism of pure fire. 
179. Arise, my soul, arise. 
561. Blessing, honor, thanks, and praise. 
428. Bless'd be the dear uniting love. 

459. Comfort, ye ministers of grace. 

337. Come, Lord, and claim me for thine own. 

77. Come, thou Traveler unknown. 
357. Come, thou greater than our heart. 
654. Come, Holy Spirit, raise our songs. 

43. Drooping soul, shake off thy fears. 
461. Draw near, Son of God, draw near. 
320. Ever fainting with desire. 
476. Eternal, spotless, Lamb of God. (3d part.) 
341. Eather, supply our every need. (2d part.) 
360. Eountain of life and all my joy. 
136. Eountain of life to all below. 
417. Father of our dying Lord. 
362. Eather of Jesus Christ, my Lord. 
476. Eather of all, whose powerful voice. 
498. Giver and guardian of my sleep. 
107. God of my salvation, hear. 
297. God of Israel's faithful three. 
341. God of all power, and truth, and grace. 
433. Glory be to God above. 
564. Hark ! a voice divides the sky. 
1 73. Harkcn to the solemn voice. 
482. Happy soul, who sees the day. 

460. High on His everlasting throne. (German.) 
341. Holy, and true, and righteous Lord. (3d part.) 



116 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

332. I know that my Eedeemer lives. 
355. If now I have acceptance found. 

93. I will hearken what my Lord. 
221. Jesus, at whose supreme command. 
582. Jesus, faithful to his word. 
294. Jesus is our common Lord. 

83. Jesus, Friend of sinners, hear. 
418. Jesus, united by thy grace. 
321. Jesus hath died that I might live. 
242. Jesus, to thee I now can fly. 
156. Jesus, my strength, my hope. 
146. Jesus, thou hast bid us pray. 
158. Jesus, my Saviour, Brother, Friend. 
596. Jesus, shall I never be. 
336. Jesus, the life, the truth, the way. 

454. Jesus, thy wand'ring sheep behold. 
24. Lamb of God, for sinners slain. 
85. Lord, and is thine anger gone. 

309. Lord I believe thy every word. 
31. Let the world their virtue boast. 

455. Lord of the harvest, hear. 

600. Lay too thy hand, God of grace. 
334. Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb. 

80. My gracious, loving Lord. 
345. None is like Jeshurun's God. 
195. thou dear suffering Son of God. 

368. Love, I languish at thy stay. 
187. Love divine, what hast thou done. 
303. O for a heart to praise my God. 

1 13. Almighty God of love. 

88. O that I were as heretofore. 
311. O that my load of sin were gone. 

78. O Thou whom fain my soul would love. 
282. O what shall I do my Saviour to praise. 
237. O heavenly King, look down from above. 
164. Oft have we pass'd the guilty night. 
137. O Thou, whom all thy saints adore. 
279. Oft I in my heart have said. 

369. O great Mountain, who art thou ? 
300. O Jesus ! full of truth and grace. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. HY 

331. glorious hope of perfect love. 
324. O joyful sound of gospel grace. 
422. Peace be on this house bestow'd. 
163. Pierce, fill me with an humble fear. 
370. Pris'ners of hope, lift up your heads. 

69. Pris'ner of hope, to Thee I turn. (2d part.) 
476. Son of thy Sire's eternal love. (2d part.) 

84. Son of God, if thy free grace. 
328. Saviour from sin, I wait to prove. 
138. Say which of you would see the Lord. 
440. Saviour of all, to thee we bow. 
415. Try us, O God, and search the ground. 
165. Thy presence, Lord, the place shall fill. 

41. To the haven of thy breast. 

69. Thee, Jesus, thee, the sinner's Priend. 
464. The Lord is King, and earth submits. 
438. Unchangeable, Almighty Lord. 
378. Vain, delusive world, adieu. 

57. Wretched, helpless, and distress'd. 
352. When, my Saviour, shall I be. 
595. Who is this gigantic foe ? 

126. When, gracious Lord, when shall it be. 

127. Whom man forsakes Thou wilt not leave. 
369. Who hath slighted or contemn'd. (2d part.) 
344. What is our calling's glorious hope. 

1 94. Ye that pass by, behold the Man. 
251. Ye ransom'd sinners, hear. 
77. Yield to me now, for I am weak. (2d part.) 

And two in the Hymn-book of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South : — 

" God of unspotted purity." 

" let us our own works forsake." 

The following, in the Wesleyan Hymn-book, are from 
the same prolific source : — 

" Be it according to thy word." 
" Comfort, ye ministers of grace." 



118 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" God of Daniel, hear my prayer." 

" I soon shall hear thy quick'ning voice." 

" I know that my Redeemer lives, He lives." 

" Jesus, my King, to thee I bow." 

" Jesus, thou know'st my sinfulness." 

" Jesus, take my sins away." 

" Lord, regard my earnest cry." 

" My Father, my God, I long for thy love." 

" O might I this moment cease." 

" O my Lord, what must I do." 

" Omnipotent Lord, my Saviour and King." 

" O God of my salvation, hear." 

" Sinners, your hearts lift up." 

" The Lord unto my Lord hath said." 

" What can we offer our good Lord." 

" What shall I do my God to serve." 

" Woe is me, what tongue can tell." 

There were united to the first society of Methodists, 
so called, which held its meetings in the Chapel in Fet- 
ter-lane, London, a number of the nobility, several of 
whom were ladies, belonging to one of the most ancient, 
and, in the best sense of the term, noble families of Great 
Britain. " From motives of curiosity," says the biogra- 
pher of the countess of Huntingdon, " some of the Ladies 
Hastings (sisters of Lord Huntingdon) were induced to 
attend the preaching of the first Methodists, and there 
the Lord met them with blessings of his grace." They 
soon joined themselves to the despised people of God, 
"and never appeared to be ashamed to own whose 
they were, or whom they served." Lady Margaret 
Hastings was the first who received the truth as it is 
in Jesus ; and the Lord was pleased to make her the 
honored instrument of Lady Huntingdon's conversion, 
as well as many of her family and friends. The con- 
version of the countess took place during a dangerous 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 119 

illness, in which the fear of death terribly distressed 
her. In this condition she saw herself a miserable 
sinner, and was convinced that the strict morality of 
her conduct, for which from her youth she had always 
been distinguished, was altogether insufficient to pro- 
cure for her that permanent peace which was now the 
all-absorbing desire of her soul. She had heard Lady 
Margaret say, " that since she had known and believed 
in the Lord Jesus Christ for life and salvation, she had 
been as happy as an angel :" now the words returned 
strongly to her recollection ; she felt an earnest desire 
to cast herself wholly upon Christ, and from her bed 
she lifted up her heart to her Saviour, renouncing every 
other hope, and immediately her burdened soul was re- 
lieved of its load, and she was filled with peace and joy 
in believing. Her disorder, says her biographer, from 
that moment took a favorable turn, and she was re- 
stored to perfect health. She sent a message to John 
and Charles Wesley, who were then preaching in the 
neighborhood, professing to be one with them in heart, 
and assuring them of her determination to live and die 
a follower of Jesus Christ. 

The friendship which thus commenced, in the year 
1738, between Mr. Wesley and Lady Huntingdon, al- 
though purely religious, was of the most intimate and 
unreserved character. "At this period," remarks the 
biographer before referred to, " Mr. Wesley's visits at 
Donnington Park were very frequent ; Lady Hunting- 
don having a very sincere esteem for him, and they 
were much united in sentiments of a theological nature. 
Easy and affable in his demeanor, he accommodated 
himself to every society, and showed how happily the 
most finished courtesy may be blended with the most 



120 METHODIST HYMN O LOGY. 

perfect piety. In his conversation we might be at a 
loss which to admire most, his fine classical taste, his 
extensive knowledge of men and things, or his over- 
flowing goodness of heart. While the grave and se- 
rious were charmed with his wisdom, his sportive sal- 
lies of innocent mirth delighted even the young and 
thoughtless ; and both saw, in his uninterrupted cheer- 
fulness, the excellency of true religion." 

The intimacy thus existing between Mr. John Wesley 
and the countess was brought about on her part by a 
desire to receive spiritual benefit from one whom she 
considered competent to instruct her, and altogether 
worthy of her distinguished consideration. And it is 
an interesting fact that Mr. Wesley, before publishing 
some of his earlier journals, submitted them to the in- 
spection of her ladyship, whose approbation was un- 
qualified, and she strongly urged him to hasten their 
publication. This friendship led to mutual efforts to 
convey similar instruction to the hearts and minds of 
their countrymen. And it is not surprising that among 
the various means used to acoomplish their pious and 
praiseworthy purposes, their thoughts should be di- 
rected to the purification of the streams of knowledge 
conveyed through the current literature of the day, the 
generally immoral and pernicious character and ten- 
dency of which they alike saw and deplored. The 
attention of the countess, it seems, was directed more 
especially to the department of poetry, much of which 
was prostituted to the vilest ends, and she expressed a 
desire to see such a collection of the works of the prin- 
cipal English poets as should be in accordance with re- 
fined taste, and separated from everything objectionable 
in sentiment. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 121 

Mrs. Rowe, who wrote under the assumed name of 
"Philomela," in publishing her first volume of poetry, 
"partly borrowed from authors, and partly new," in 
the beginning of the last century, (1704,) was influ- 
enced by the same motives which actuated the philan- 
thropic minds of Wesley and Lady Huntingdon. In 
her highly interesting preface, Mrs. Rowe lays bare the 
evils of the age in a manner that would astonish the 
reader of the present day. Her bold and fearless lan- 
guage is worthy of record. "Our poets," says she, 
"have so little employed their talents on divine sub- 
jects, that their numerous volumes afford not poems 
enough of that nature to furnish out one octavo" In 
view of such a state of things in the literary world, her 
pious soul thus vents its regrets : — " Who that has any 
concern for religion, or the happiness of mankind, can 
consider without melancholy, what store of profane and 
lewd poetry these late times have produced ? how much 
it is valued, and what great mischief is done by it ? 
What numbers of plays, and other books of poetry and 
gallantry, are daily exposed to sale, which, besides the 
wit, (pity so excellent a thing should be employed to 
such sorry purposes,) contain nothing but fuel for men's 
corruptions ! that burlesque religion, defy its Author, 
and turn the most serious things into fulsome ridicule ! 
Vice here rides triumphant, has forgot to blush, and 
puts on that air of confidence which truth and virtue 
only appear in. One would think these had resigned 
up all their authority to it, and acknowledged vice to 
be the more noble and excellent thing. The heathens 
are at length conquered by us ; ancient Rome must 
give place to London ; and should the poets and come- 
dians of those days return again, they would freely own 
6 



122 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

themselves outmatched by Christians, and wonder at 
our improvements in all the arts of wickedness. It is 
strange, as well as deplorable, to see what credit the 
lewdest authors obtain among us ; how fast their infec- 
tion spreads, and how fond men are of the instruments 
of their ruin. These are the famous volumes that 
crowd the press, and enrich the printer and bookseller ! 
Books of a contrary strain, though their subjects are 
never so noble, and they are writ with a great deal of 
sense and wit, go off but dully — they want the most 
charming accomplishment, and do not agree (God for- 
give us !) with the taste of this refined age ! to such a 
degree of degeneracy are we grown ; and these are the 
dismal effects of loose and impious authors ! While 
war makes havoc abroad, the stage ruins at home, and 
proves more fatal to men's souls than that to their 
bodies ; the contagion spreads wide, our guilt cries 
aloud, and like a mighty deluge threatens to overwhelm 
us." 

This long quotation from Mrs. Rowe is made to show 
the great necessity there was in her day, which imme- 
diately preceded that of Wesley, for the efforts she 
made to produce a reformation in the minds and tastes 
of the people for literary aliment. Doctor Watts, who 
was cotemporaneous with Mrs. Rowe, and on terms of 
intimate friendship with her, heartily seconded her de- 
signs ; and it must be confessed that his poetical writ- 
ings have done more for the promotion of pure and 
exalted taste in sacred poetry of the lyric kind, than 
any other person who has ever lived ; unless we except 
Charles Wesley, whose superior efforts in the same 
cause are destined to place him in the position hereto- 
fore generally assigned to Dr. Watts. Mrs. Rowe has 



METHODIST HTMNOLOGY. 123 

not, perhaps, received that consideration which her 
early and important aid in this department of literature 
and religion entitles her ; although Mr. Montgomery, in 
his Christian Psalmist, has made respectful but brief 
allusion to her ; and she occupies a prominent position 
among the authors whose works compose the volumes 
which will now be introduced to the notice of the 
reader. Some of her hymns are found in many 
hymn-books of the present day ; but there are none 
in the Methodist collection. 

Acting upon the suggestion of Lady Huntingdon, 
which was altogether in unison with his own senti- 
ments, Mr. Wesley published at Bristol, in the year 
1*744, "A Collection of Moral and Sacred Poems 
from the most Celebrated English Authors," in three 
volumes, duodecimo. The design of this work was to sup- 
ply what was deemed by many among the chief deside- 
rata of the age. In his dedication to the countess, Mr. 
Wesley says : " Your mentioning this a year or two 
ago, and expressing a desire to see such a collection, 
determined me not to delay the design I had long had 
of attempting something of the kind. I therefore 
revised all the English poems I knew, and selected 
what appeared most valuable in them. Only Spen- 
ser's works I was constrained to omit, because scarcely 
intelligible to the generality of modern readers. 

" I shall rejoice if the want of which you complained 
be in some measure supplied by the following collec- 
tion ; of which this, at least, may be affirmed : There is 
nothing therein contrary to virtue ; nothing that can any 
way offend the chastest ear, or give pain to the tenderest 
heart. And perhaps whatever is really essential to the 
most sublime divinity, as well the purest as the most 



124 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

refined, will be found therein. Nor is it a small circum- 
stance, that the most just and important sentiments 
are here represented with the utmost advantage ; with 
all the ornaments both of wit and language ; and in the 
clearest, fullest, strongest light." 

The work contains, among others, selections from 
Milton, Dryden, Young, Pope, Prior, Cowley, Norris, 
Pomfret, Watts, and Mrs. Rowe. Cowper had not 
then appeared, or he would doubtless have had a con- 
spicuous niche in the collection. The third volume is 
composed almost entirely of poems by the Rev. Samuel 
Wesley, Sen., and his three celebrated sons, Samuel, 
John, and Charles. Here is found one of the longest 
poems written by Charles Wesley. It is an elegy on 
the death of Robert Jones, Esq., of Fonmon Castle, in 
Glamorganshire, South Wales, consisting of about six 
hundred lines. Mr. Jones is mentioned in the Life of 
Lady Huntingdon, as " a gentleman of large fortune, and 
a truly pious convert, through the labors of the early 
Methodists, to the truth as it is in Christ Jesus." Mr. 
Charles Wesley was the honored instrument, in the 
hands of God, of the conversion of this excellent man, 
who was his fellow-collegian at Oxford. The elegy, 
says Mr. Jackson, " is written with great spirit ; de- 
scribes Mr. Jones's life, conversion, subsequent piety, 
exemplary conduct as a husband and a father, his at- 
tachment to the Church of England, catholic spirit, 
fidelity to his Christian profession, and triumphant 
death." A brief extract, which will serve to show the 
character of the poem, is all that can be given : — 

" O what a change was there ! The man of birth 
Sinks down into a clod of common earth : 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 125 

The man of polish'd sense his judgment quits, 
And tamely to a madman's name submits : 
The man of curious taste neglects his food, 
And all is pleasant now, and all is good : 
The man of rigid honor slights his fame, 
And glories in his Lord and Master's shame : 
The man of wealth and pleasure all forgoes, 
And nothing hut the cross of Jesus knows : 
The man of sin is wash'd in Jesus' blood, 
The man of sin becomes a child of God. 
Throughout his life the new creation shines, 
Throughout his words, and actions, and designs : 
Quicken'd with Christ, he sought the things above, 
And evidenced the faith which works by love, 
Which quenches Satan's every fiery dart, 
O'ercomes the world, and purifies the heart." 

There are some hymns from Mrs. Rowe, Dr. Watts, 
and the three brothers Wesley. Those by the eldest 
brother, Samuel, have nearly all been transferred to 
the English and American Hymn-books, and are well 
worthy of the distinguished place they hold in many 
other collections of hymns. They commence as fol- 
lows : — 

" The morning flowers display their sweets." 

" Hail, Father ! whose creating call." 

" From whence these dire portents around." 

" Hail, Holy Ghost, Jehovah, third." 

" The Lord of sabbath let us praise." 

" The Sun of righteousness appears." 

The following hymn, from the pen of Charles Wes- 
ley, has found its way into James Montgomery's 
" Christian Psalmist." Mr. Montgomery has enriched 
his valuable work by inserting in it about one hundred 
and twenty Wesleyan hymns, but without, in many 
instances, giving the author's name. 



126 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 



THE CHRISTIAN. 



Who is as the Christian great ? 

Bought and wash'd with sacred blood ; 
Crowns he sees beneath his feet, 

Soars aloft, and walks with God. 

Who is as the Christian wise ? 

He his naught for all hath given ; 
Bought the pearl of greatest price, 

Nobly barter'd earth for heaven. 

Who is as the Christian bless'd ? 

He hath found the long-sought stone, 
He is join'd to Christ, his rest, 

He and happiness are one. 

Earth and heaven together meet, 
Gifts in him and graces join ; 

Make the character complete, 
All immortal, all divine. 

Lo ! his clothing is the sun, 

The bright Sun of righteousness ; 

He hath put salvation on — 
Jesus is his beauteous dress. 

Lo ! he feeds on living bread, 
Drinks the fountain from above, 

Leans on Jesus' breast his head • 
Feasts for ever on his love. 

Angels here his servants are, 

Spread for him their golden wings, 

To his throne of glory bear, 
Seat him by the King of kings. 

Who shall gain that heavenly height ? 

Who his Saviour's face shall see ? 
I who claim it in his right, 

Christ hath bought it all for me. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 127 

Neither affliction, nor ministerial labor, says Mr. 
Charles Wesley's biographer, could induce him to neg- 
lect the cultivation of his poetical talents. In the course 
of the year 1745 he united with his brother in the 
publication of a volume of " Hymns on the Lord's Sup- 
per ;" the whole of which appear to have been their 
own compositions: a few hymns being introduced 
into the volume from their Hymn-books of 1739 and 
1740. To the hymns was prefixed a brief spiritual 
treatise of Dr. Brevint, a clergyman of a former age, 
entitled, " The Christian Sacrament and Sacrifice ;" ex- 
plaining the nature of this ordinance, and giving direc- 
tions for receiving it aright. The brothers borrowed 
many thoughts from this treatise in the composition 
of their hymns, some of which can scarcely be con- 
sidered more than metrical paraphrases of the prose 
text ; but while the pious authors were under obliga- 
tions to Dr. Brevint for some of his excellent ideas, the 
poetical character of the hymns are well worthy of the 
poets of Methodism. "This very pious manual," ob- 
serves Mr. Jackson, "was in great request, and in 
increasing demand as long as the authors lived. Few 
of the books which they published passed through so 
many editions ; for the writers had succeeded in im- 
pressing upon the minds of their societies the great 
importance of frequent communion. They administered 
the Lord's supper in London every sabbath-day ; and 
urged the people everywhere, at all opportunities, to 
' eat of this bread, and drink of this cup,' in ' remem- 
brance ' of their Redeemer's death. The sacramental 
hymns are one hundred and sixty-six in number ; and 
although they all refer to one subject, they are distin- 
guished throughout by a remarkable variety of thought 



128 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

and expression. The flame of devotion by which they 
are animated is bright and intense." 

As already stated, some of the hymns in this volume 
are paraphrases. The following is selected as a speci- 
men ; and perhaps a better could not be given, nor one 
that would exhibit more favorably the author's power 
to transmute the sober realities of prose into the most 
exalted strains of sacred song. The reader is requested 
to collate this hymn — which may be found in the Hymn- 
books of both the Wesleyan and Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South — with the following extract from Dr. 
Brevint's " Christian Sacrifice :" — 

" This victim having been offered up in the fullness 
of time, and in the midst of the world, which is Christ's 
great temple, and having been thence carried up to 
heaven, which is his sanctuary ; from thence spread 
salvation all around, as the burnt- offering did its smoke. 
And thus his body and blood have everywhere, but 
especially at this sacrament, a true and real presence. 
When he offered himself upon earth, the vapor of his 
atonement went up and darkened the very sun ; and by 
rending the great veil, it clearly showed he had made 
a way into heaven. And since he is gone up, he 
sends down to earth the graces that spring continually 
both from his everlasting sacrifice and from the con- 
tinual intercession that attends it. So that we need 
not say, * Who will go up into heaven ?' since, without 
either ascending or descending, this sacred body of 
Jesus fills with atonement and blessings the remotest 
parts of his temple." 

Thus sings Charles Wesley : — 

" Victim divine, thy grace we claim, 

While thus thy precious death we show ; 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 129 

Once offer'd up a spotless Lamb, 

In thy great temple here below, 
Thou didst for all mankind atone, 
And standest now before the throne. 

" Thou standest in the holiest place, 

As now for guilty sinners slain, 
The blood of sprinkling speaks, and prays, 

All prevalent for helpless man ; 
Thy blood is still our ransom found, 
And speaks salvation all around. 

" The smoke of thy atonement here 
Darken'd the sun, and rent the veil, 

Made the new way to heaven appear, 
And show'd the great Invisible ; 

Well pleased in thee our God look'd down, 

And call'd his rebels to a crown. 

" He still respects thy sacrifice, 

Its savor sweet doth always please ; 
The offering smokes through earth and skies, 

Diffusing life, and joy, and peace ; 
To these, thy lower courts, it comes, 
And fills them with divine perfumes. 

" "We need not now go up to heaven, 

To bring the long-sought Saviour down : 

Thou art to all already given, 

Thou dost e'en now thy banquet crown, 

To every faithful soul appear, 

And show thy real presence here." 

But the prime source of Charles Wesley's inspira- 
tion was his religion — his deep, fervent, impassioned 
piety ; this it was that led him to explore the glorious 
heights, and sound the unfathomable depths, of divine 
Revelation ; and although he sometimes 

" Stoop\l to touch a lofty thought," 

which had been touched before, he generally drew his 
G* 



130 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

sentiments from Iieaven, fresh and fragrant from the 
amaranthine bowers of bliss, and baptized with the 
ambrosial dews of celestial love. 

A copy of the eleventh edition of this work, pub- 
lished at London, in the year 1825, is before the writer. 
It contains one hundred and seventy pages, and is 
divided into six parts, as follow : 1. As it is a memo- 
rial of the sufferings and death of Christ. 2. As it 
is a sign and means of grace. 3. The sacrament, a 
pledge of heaven. 4. The holy eucharist as it implies 
a sacrifice. 5. Concerning the sacrifice of our per- 
sons. 6. After the sacrament. 

We are indebted to this excellent volume for the 
following hymns, but unfortunately have no means by 
which to distinguish between the compositions of the 
two brothers ; and therefore fix upon Charles Wesley 
as the author of them all : — 

224. Author of our salvation, thee. 

226. Come, thou everlasting Spirit. 

229. Come, Saviour, let thy tokens prove. 
374. Father, into thy hands alone. 
316. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

313. God of all-redeeming grace. 
200. God of unexampled grace. 
254. Happy the souls to Jesus join'd. 

219. In that sad. memorable night. 

225. Jesus, all-redeeming Lord. 
196. Jesus drinks the bitter cup. 

222. Jesus, we thus obey. 

220. Let all who truly bear. 

228. Lamb of God, whose dying love. 
544. Lift up your eyes of faith, and see. 

314. Let Him to whom we now belong. 

227. O thou eternal Victim, slain. 
591. God of our forefathers, hear. 

223. Rock of Israel, cleft for me. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 131 

121. Son of God, thy blessing grant. 
545. Who are these array'd in white 1 

The following in the Hymn-book of the M. E. Church, 
South :— 

" Come, Holy Ghost, set to thy seal." 

" Father, hear the blood of Jesus." 

" Father, if thou willing be." 

" Hearts of stone, relent, relent." 

" How long, thou faithful God, shall I." 

" In Jesus we live, in Jesus we rest." 

" Lord, didst thou ordain." 

" O what a taste is this." 

" See where our great High Priest." 

" Thou very paschal Lamb." 

" This, this is He that came." 

" Thee, King of saints, we praise." 

" Victim divine, thy grace we claim." 

And two in the Wesleyan Collection : — 

" Come, all who truly bear." 

" Come, Holy Ghost, thine influence shed ." 

Some of the numerous poetical publications of 
Messrs. John and Charles Wesley, which were issued 
in the form of tracts, or pamphlets, grew out of the 
peculiar circumstances under which the Methodist 
societies, established by them and their coadjutors in 
various parts of the kingdom, were placed. They were 
menaced by the laws of the land on the one side, and by 
what was regarded by many as the peculiar rights and 
immunities of the Established Church, on the other. 
The contents of those tracts throw important light on 
the history of Methodism. Indeed, Mr. Jackson, in his 
admirable Life of Charles Wesley, and other works, 
frequently uses them for this very purpose, as well as 



132 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

to illustrate some of the most important and minor 
events in the personal narrative of the brothers. These 
remarks will serve to introduce a pamphlet of sixty-nine 
pages, which was issued this year, by John and Charles 
Wesley, entitled, " Hymns for Times of Trouble and 
Persecution ;" which was enlarged and reprinted at 
Bristol, from a tract printed at London, in the year 
1*744, with the following motto : " If ye be willing and 

obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land But 

if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the 
sword : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." — 
Isa. i, 19, 20. 

This publication was occasioned by the riots and 
outrages which were prevalent at the time in various 
parts of the kingdom. These riots and outrages were 
accompanied by opposition the most systematic and 
determined, by which the Methodist preachers and 
societies were greatly harassed. The country, which 
was in a very unsettled state, was at war with France 
and Spain. It was threatened with an invasion by the 
French, for the purpose of deposing the reigning mo- 
narch, George the Second, and of placing on the British 
throne the exiled representative of the house of Stuart. 
Under such government, had the project succeeded, 
Popery would again have been restored in the triumph- 
ant exercise of its arbitrary power. The national dan- 
ger was made a pretext for the most bitter persecution 
of the Wesleys and their fellow-laborers in the gospel. 
They were represented as Papists, in the pay of the 
Pretender; and, in several instances, the magistrates, 
who should have protected an unoffending people, tore 
Methodist preachers away from their families and sent 
them into the army. Even Messrs. John and Charles 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 133 

Wesley were subjected to unjust charges, and examined 
before trie civil authorities ; one in Cornwall, and the 
other in Yorkshire. Yet men of purer loyalty did not 
exist. They inculcated obedience to the laws wherever 
they preached, and appointed in their principal societies 
weekly meetings of intercession with God for the main- 
tenance of public tranquillity, and of the Protestant 
constitution. It was under such trials that they con- 
tinued their practice of employing the press for the 
accomplishment of their pious purposes. In the midst 
of the persecution they published their " Hymns for 
Times of Trouble," nearly the whole of which were 
doubtless from the pen of Charles. " In these very 
spirited compositions," says Mr. Jackson, "the national 
sins are confessed and lamented ; the mercy of God is 
earnestly implored in behalf of a guilty people ; civil 
war is deprecated as a great and terrible calamity ; the 
preservation of the Protestant religion, and a revival of 
its primitive spirit, are both solicited as the most im- 
portant blessings ; and the king is especially commend- 
ed to the divine protection, not as the creature of the 
popular will, but as God's vicegerent, and his minister 
for good to the people." 

The following three hymns are from this source : — 

17. Sinners, the call obey. 
128. Jesus, Redeemer of mankind. 
275. Head of the church triumphant. 

And the four in the Wesleyan Collection, commenc- 
ing, 

" Lord, thou hast hid thy people pray." 
" Lamb of God, who bearest away." 
t; Sovereign of all, whose will ordains." 
" Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim." 



134 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

It was about the year 1*744 that Messrs. John and 
Charles Wesley began to publish, in the form of tracts, 
for the use of the Methodist societies and congrega- 
tions, hymns adapted to the principal festivals of the 
Christian church, and other special occasions, such as 
the " Nativity " of Christ, his " Resurrection," " Ascen- 
sion Day," "Whitsunday," "New- Year's Day," and 
" Watchnights." Other poetical pamphlets, chiefly 
written by Charles Wesley, they also published, con- 
taining graces before and after meat, and doxologies 
addressed to the Holy Trinity ; others were adapted to 
the state of the times, and the spiritual wants and con- 
ditions of the people, as indicated by their titles. 

The watchnight services* — and they appear to have 
been of frequent occurrence — which were conducted 
by Charles Wesley, in those times were usually sea- 
sons of great solemnity and power. " Amidst the 
silence of the night, and in the absence of riotous 
people and triflers, he and his fellow- worshipers antici- 
pated the sound of the trumpet which shall awake the 
dead, and proclaim the appearance of the almighty 
Judge. His prayers, and impressive addresses to the 
people, with the appropriate hymns which they unitedly 
sung at his dictation, seemed to bring them near the 
day of the Lord ; and they rejoiced before him with 

* "A. D. 1742. The first watchnight was held in London. 
The custom originated with the colliers of Kings wood, near 
Bristol, who had been in the habit, when slaves to sin, of spend- 
ing every Saturday night at the alehouse. They now devoted 
that night to prayer, and singing of hymns. Mr. Wesley, hear- 
ing of this, and of the good that was done, resolved to make it 
general. At first he ordered watchnights to be kept once a month, 
when the moon was at the full : and afterward fixed them for 
once a quarter." — Crowthers Portraiture of Methodism. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 135 

the deepest reverence." There lies before the writer 
a tract of twelve pages, entitled "Hymns for the 
Watchnight," containing eleven hymns, all intended 
to be sung upon watchnight occasions. In this tract 
first appeared the hymns commencing, 

243. How happy, gracious Lord, are we. 
292. Meet and right it is to sing. 
572. Thou Judge of quick and dead. 

And the following two in the Hymn-book of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South : 

" Join, all ye ransom'd sons of grace." 
" Ye virgin souls, arise." 

The second edition of " Hymns for the Nativity 
of our Lord," comprising eighteen pages, and the 
same number of hymns, appeared in 1745, and the 
fifth in 1756. In this tract was first published the two 
hymns beginning, 

485. All glory to God in the sky. 

486. Father, our hearts we lift. 

There are two copies of this pamphlet before the 
writer, in one of which hymn 485 is not found. This 
circumstance is referred to by Mr. Wesley in the fol- 
lowing extract of a letter to his brother Charles, written 
in the year 1*761 : "Pray, tell R. Sheen I am hugely 
displeased at his reprinting the Nativity Hymns, and 
omitting the very best hymn in the collection, — 

' All glory to God in the sky,' &c. 
I beg they may never more be printed without it. 
Omit one or two, and I will thank you. They are 
namby-pambical. I wish you would give us two or 
three invitatory hymns. We want such exceedingly."* 
* Works, vol. vi, p. 663. 



136 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

In subsequent editions the objectionable hymns were 
omitted, the missing one restored, and a few more 
added, making in all twenty-one hymns. From this 
tract was taken the hymn in the hymn-book, of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, commencing, 

" Come, thou long-expected Jesus ;" 
and four more in the Wesleyan Collection : — 

" Let earth and heaven combine." 
"Light of those whose dreary dwelling." 
" Celebrate Immanuel's name." 
" Glory be to God on high." 

The last hymn we give entire, as being in our esti- 
mation of unusual excellence : — 

" Glory be to God on high, 

And peace on earth descend ; 
God comes down : he bows the sky, 

He shows himself our Friend ! 
God, th' Invisible, appears, 

God the bless'd, the great I Am, 
Sojourns in this vale of tears, 

And Jesus is his name. 

" Him the angels all adored — 

Their Maker and their King : 
Tidings of their humbled Lord 

They now to mortals bring : 
Emptied of his majesty, 

Of his dazzling glories shorn, 
Being's source begins to be, 

And God himself is born. 

" See th' eternal Son of God 

A mortal son of man, 

Dwelling in an earthly clod, 

Whom heaven cannot contain ! 

Stand amazed, ye heavens, at this ! 

See the Lord of earth and skies, 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 137 

Humbled to the dust he is, 
And in a manger lies ! 

" We, the sons of men, rejoice, 

The Prince of peace proclaim, 
With heaven's host lift up our voice, 

And shout Immanuel's name, 
Knees and hearts to him we bow ; 

Of our flesh, and of our bone, 
Jesus is our brother now, 

And God is all our own !" 

In the year 1746 the English nation was called to 
acknowledge the goodness of God, in its deliverance 
from the dreadful calamity of a civil war, by the com- 
plete defeat and annihilation of the rebel forces under 
the Pretender, at the battle of Culloden, which was 
fought on the 16th of April. The following 9th of 
October was observed by the sound-hearted Protest- 
ants of the nation as a day of public thanksgiving, 
and to all such it was doubtless a season of pious and 
substantial joy ; and many loyal sermons were preached 
and published on the occasion. Mr. Charles Wesley 
preached at the Foundry at four o'clock in the morn- 
ing, where there was a time of solemn rejoicing and 
true thanksgiving. In the expression of gratitude to 
God, and of unfeigned attachment to the reigning 
family, the Methodist congregations were behind no 
class of their fellow-citizens. 

This was not the only service that Mr. Charles Wes- 
ley rendered the good cause of Protestant loyalty upon 
this most interesting occasion. He published seven 
hymns in a tract of twelve pages, entitled, " Hymns 
for the Public Thanksgiving Day, Oct. 9, 1*746," 
for general circulation, and especially for the use of 



138 METHODIST HYMNOLOGV. 

Methodist congregations. "They are all," says Mr. 
Jackson, " of a thoroughly Protestant character ; are 
written with singular strength of thought and expres- 
sion ; and must at the time have produced a strong 
sensation. The writer evidently felt that the nation 
had passed a momentous crisis; France and Spain 
having been ready to aid the design of placing the 
British crown upon the head of a slave of Papal 
Rome." 

Not one of these hymns has found its way into either 
the English or American Hymn-book. Here is one of 
them as a specimen : it is the first of the seven : — 

" Britons, rejoice, the Lord is King ! 
The Lord of hosts and nations sing, 
Whose arm hath now your foes o'erthrown ; 
Ascribe to God the praise alone ; 
The Giver of success proclaim, 
And shout your thanks in Jesus' name ! 

" 'Twas not a feeble arm of ours 
Which chased the fierce contending powers ; 
Jehovah tum'd the scale of fight ; 
Jehovah quell'd their boasted might, 
And snapp'd their spears, and broke their swords, 
And show'd — the battle is the Lord's. 

" He beckon'd to the savage band, 
And bade them sweep through half 'the land : 
The savage band their terror spread, 
With Rome and Satan at their head, 
But, stopp'd by his Almighty breath, 
Eush'd back — into the arms of death. 

" Thou, Lord, alone hast laid them low, 
In pieces dash'd th' invading foe ! 
Thy breath, which did their fury raise, 
Hath quench'd, at once, the sudden blaze, 
Destroy'd the weapons of thine ire, 
And cast the rods into the fire. 



METHODIST HYMNOLO.GY. 139 

' O that we all might see the hand 
"Which still protects a guilty land ; 
Glory and strength ascribe to Thee, 
Who giv'st to kings the victory ; 
And yield, while yet the Spirit strives, 
And thank thee with our hearts and lives ! 

" O that we might to God rejoice, 
And tremble at thy mercy's voice ; 
Nor fondly dream the danger past, 
While yet our own rebellions last ! 
O that our wars with Heaven might cease, 
And ail receive the Prince of peace. 

' Or if, before the scourge return, 
The thankless crowd disdains to mourn, 
Yet, Lord, with reverential joy, 
We vow for thee our all t' employ, 
And bless thee for the kind reprieve, 
And to our Saviour's glory live ! 

1; Long as thou length'nest out our days, 
We live to testify thy grace ; 
Secure beneath thy mercy's wings, 
We triumph in the King of kings, 
The Giver of success proclaim, 
And shout our thanks in Jesus' name." 



" Graces before and after Meat," is the title of a 
tract in two parts, containing twelve pages. The 
" graces " are in the form of short hymns, in a variety 
of metres, of from one to three verses each, except two, 
one of which has four, and the other seven, verses. The 
title of the tract indicates the use designed to be made 
of its contents, although it would seem somewhat 
strange at this day, in our country, to sing a grace 
either before or after a meal. But it was not so among 
the simple-hearted Methodists. As they had been in- 



140 METHODIST HVMNOLOGY. 

structed by those set over them in the Lord, they were 
ready and willing to praise their divine Head at all 
times, and in every possible way. The strangeness of 
the thing, however, is not a sufficient reason why the 
" graces " should not be thus employed, as their use 
could not but be conducive to a spirit of gratitude to 
the Giver of every good and perfect gift, for temporal 
as well as spiritual blessings. Mr. Wesley sometimes 
sung a hymn before partaking of his food, and his 
brother Charles wrote a hymn " to be sung at the tea- 
table ;" and the practice is still continued in many parts 
of England among his followers. Here follow a few 
specimens from this tract. First from " Graces before 
Meat," eleven in number. 

Father of earth and heaven, 

Thy hungry children feed ; 
Thy grace be to our spirits given, 

That true immortal bread : 
Grant us, and all our race. 

In Jesus Christ to prove 
The sweetness of thy pard'ning grace, 

The manna of thy love. 

O, Father of all, 

Who fillest with good 
The ravens that call 

On thee for their food ; 
Those ready to perish 

Thou lov'st to sustain 5 
And wilt thou not cherish 

The children of men 1 

On thee we depend 

Our wants to supply, 
Whose goodness shall send 

Us bread from the sky : 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 141 

On earth thou shalt give us 

A taste of thy love, 
And shortly receive us 

To banquet above. 

Here is one of four graces, intended 

FOR MOURNERS. 

O how can a criminal feast, 

In chains, and appointed to die 1 
O how can a sinner be bless'd 

With only an outward supply ? 
Till Him at the table I meet, 

Who chases my sorrows and fears, 
The bread of affliction I eat, 

And mingle my drink with my tears. 

For mercy I languish and faint, 

My only refreshment and food ; 
Thy mercy, Jesus, I want, 

I hunger and thirst after God : 
No blessing or good I desire 

On earth, or in heaven above ; 
But grant me the grace I require, 

And give me a taste of thy love ! 

The following are from the second part, " Graces 
after Meat," twenty-five in number : — 

Father, through thy Son receive 

Our grateful sacrifice, 
All the wants of all that live 

Thine open hand supplies ; 
Fills the world with plenteous food ; 

For the riches of thy grace, 
Take, thou universal God, 

The universal praise. 

And can we forbear in tasting our food, 
The grace to declare, and goodness of God ! 
Our Father in heaven, with joy we partake 
The gifts thou hast given for Jesus's sake. 



142 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

In thee do we live ; thy daily supplies, 
As manna received, dropp'd down from the skies ; 
In thanks we endeavor thy gifts to restore, 
And praise thee for ever, when time is no more. 

Blessing to God, for ever bless'd, 
To God, the Master of the feast, 
Who hath for us a table spread, 
And in this howling desert fed, 
And doth with all his gifts impart 
The crown of all, a thankful heart. 

Thee, Father, Son, and Spirit, we 

Our kind Preserver praise 
While in thy threefold gifts we see, 

And taste thy threefold grace. 
Thou feed'st the needy sons of men, 

Thou dost our strength renew, 
With corn, and wine, and oil, sustain 

Our fainting spirits too. 

Father, in thee we taste the bread 

That cheers the church above, 
And drink, from sin and sorrow freed, 

The wine of Jesus' love. 
Th' oil of joy, th' Spirit of grace, 

To us himself imparts, 
The oil that brightens every face, 

And gladdens all our hearts. 

With awful thanks we now receive 

Our emblematic food, 
On Father, Son, and Spirit, live, 

And daily feast on God ; 
We to thy glory drink and eat, 

Till all from earth remove, 
The endless praises to repeat 

Of all-sustaining Love. 

These metrical graces were very popular among the 
people for whose use they had been prepared, and 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 143 

they were highly beneficial to them. Their acquisition 
by the memory was an easy task, and their retention 
pleasant and agreeable. They had the effect of pre- 
senting to their minds more frequently the^debt of gra- 
titude they were under to God for the many gifts and 
blessings he had bestowed upon them. 

During the year 1 746 was issued from the press a small 
volume of hymns, of sixty-eight pages, formerly known 
by the name of " Redemption Hymns." The volume 
is entitled " Hymns for those that seek, and those 

THAT HAVE, REDEMPTION IN THE BLOOD OF JeSUS CHRIST." 

The fifth edition of this work appeared in London, in 
1*756. There is no author's name in the title-page, nor 
any preface to the volume, which is the case with se- 
veral other Hymn-books published by the Wesleys. As 
there is no mention of this work in the Life of Charles 
Wesley, it may safely be inferred that, although both 
brothers were, doubtless, concerned in its composition, 
Mr. John Wesley alone was responsible for its pub- 
lication. 

The following are redemption hymns :- — 

437. All praise to our redeeming Lord. 
117. Come, Lord, from above. 
3. Come, sinners, to the gospel feast. 

38. Father of Jesus Christ, the Just. 
293. Father, in whom we live. 

58. Father of Jesus Christ, my Lord. 
143. Father, behold with gracious eyes. 
439. God of love, that hear'st the prayer. 
430. God of all consolation, take. 
253. Happy the man that finds the grace. 
548. How happy is the pilgrim's lot. 
691. Infinite God, to thee we raise. 
119. Jesus, my Lord, attend. 



144 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

469. Jesus, my strength and righteousness. 
429. Jesus, accept the praise. 
288. Jesus, take all the glory. 
588. Lo ! I come with joy to do. 
310. Love divine, all loves excelling. 
537. Leader of faithful souls, and guide. 
691. Messiah, joy of ever} 7 heart. (2d part.) 
133. wondrous power of faithful prayer. 

277. Rejoice evermore with angels above. 

691. Saviour, we now rejoice in hope. (3d part.) 
103. Shepherd of souls, with pitying eye. 
549. Still out of the deepest abyss. 
178. Thou great mysterious God unknown. 
47. Thou hidden God, for whom I groan. 
9. Weary souls that wander wide. 
594. Worship, and thanks, and blessing. 

278. Ye simple souls, that stray. 

192. Ye heavens, rejoice in Jesus's grace. 

And the following two in the Wesleyan Hymn-book : — 

" All thanks be to God, Who scatters abroad." 
" Out of the deep I cry." 

It is a matter of surprise that the biographer of the 
poets should remain silent in reference to a volume 
which may be considered among their earlier publica- 
tions, and one that has contributed as large a propor- 
tion of its contents to the general stock of standard 
Wesleyan hymnology as any other one of their poetical 
works. In the absence of any knowledge of his reasons 
for so doing, we cannot but regard the omission as 
surprising, especially as the book contains several of 
the finest Irynms of the brothers, and one that has at- 
tracted as much attention as any other in the Methodist 
Hymn-book. The hymn alluded to is — 

■ How happy is the pilgrim's lot !" &c, 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 145 

which was evidently written by Mr. John Wesley.* 
This hymn has been admired by thousands not known 
by the name of Methodists, with whom it has always 
been a great favorite, as well on account of the remark- 
able character of its sentiments, as the elegant simplicity 
of its diction. Throughout the composition the author 
has made personal reference to himself. His opinions 
upon the subject of matrimony, at one time of life, are 
well known to all acquainted with his history ; and this 
hymn was published about five years before his un- 
happy union with his wife, at a period when he had 
probably no intention of ever entering the marriage 
state, and breathes only the language of one who had 
devoted to God, as he had done, his ease, his time, his 
life, his reputation. There are traits about it which 
cannot be mistaken. See, for instance, verses four, five, 
and six ; but there is another verse, which has been 
omitted from our Hymn-book, that is still more charac- 
teristic of the author's sentiments, at the time of life 
when it was written. It runs thus, — 

" I have no sharer of my heart, 
To rob my Saviour of a part, 

And desecrate the whole : 
Only betroth'd to Christ am I, 
And wait his coming from the sky, 

To wed my happy soul." 

Some of the expressions in this stanza are very simi- 
lar to many found in Moravian hymns, and may have 
resulted from his intimate intercourse with those people 
in the early part of his ministry ; but there is nothing 

* It has been inserted in that truly delectable work, " Chee- 
ver's Lectures on the Pilgrim's Progress;" but without any 
intimation that it was written by the founder of Methodism. 

1 



146 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

in the above stanza half so objectionable as sentiments 
that abound in old Moravian Hymn-books. 
From that excellent hymn, 

" Jesus, my strength and righteousness," 
six verses have been omitted. They are as follow : — 

" This is the saving power of God : 

Whoe'er this word receive, 
Feel all th' effects of Jesus' blood, 

And sensibly believe. 
Saved from the guilt and power of sin, 

By instantaneous grace, 
They trust to have thy life brought in, 

And always see thy face. 

" The pure in heart thy face shall see, 

Before they hence remove ; 
Redeera'd from all iniquity, 

And perfected in love. 
This is the great salvation ; this 

The prize at which we aim, 
The end of faith, the hidden bliss, 

The new mysterious Name. 

" The Name inscribed in the white stone, 

The unbeginniiig Word, 
The mystery so long unknown, 

The secret of the Lord ; 
The living bread sent down from heaven, 

The saints' and angels' food — 
Th' immortal seed, the little leaven, 

The effluence of God ! 
" The tree of life, that blooms and grows 

In midst of paradise, 
The pure and living stream, that flows 

Back to its native skies : 
The Spirit's law, the covnant seal, 

Th' Eternal Righteousness ; 
The glorious joy unspeakable, 

Th' unutterable peace ! 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 147 

• { The treasure of the gospel field, 

The wisdom from above, 
Hid from the wise, to babes reveal'd, 

The precious pearl of love ; 
The mystic power of godliness, 

The end of death and sin, 
The antepast of heavenly bliss, 

The kingdom fix'd within. 

" The morning star, that, glittering bright, 

Shines to the perfect day, 
The Sun of righteousness — the Light, 

The Life, the Truth, the Way: 
The image of the living God, 

His nature and his mind, 
Himself he hath on us bestow'd, 

And all in Christ we find." 

In this volume first appeared Charles Wesley's 
celebrated poem, entitled, " The True Use of Music," 
commencing, 

" Listed into the cause of sin, 
Why should a good be evil ? 
Music, alas ! too long has been 
Press'd to obey the devil." 

This hymn has been set to a beautiful tune by the 
Rev. W. P. Burgess, of the Wesleyan Conference. 

In the year 1 / 74V was issued the second edition of a 
tract of thirty-six pages, entitled " Hymns of Petition 
and Thanksgiving for the Promise of the Father. 
By the Rev. Mr. John and Charles Wesley." These 
hymns, as the title indicates, were intended to be used 
on the festival of Whitsuntide, and are thirty-two in 
number. The following seven have been transferred 
to the Methodist Hymn-book ; — 



148 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

632. Arm of the Lord, awake, awake, The terrors. 
39. Come, Holy, Celestial Dove. 

658. Eternal Spirit, come Into thy meanest home. 
366. Father of everlasting grace. 

659. Father, glorify thy Son. 

656. Jesus, we on thy word depend. 
105. Spirit of faith, come down. 

The subjoined stanzas are the last half of a hymn 
from this tract, founded upon John xiv, 16 : — 

" In vain the world as madness brands 
Our gospel hope, which cannot fail, 
The promise of the Father stands, 
And mocks the rage of earth and hell. 

" Th' apostates toil with fruitless pain 
The Word of none effect to prove, 
T' exclude thee from the heart of man, 
And drive thee to thy saints above. 

" The Spirit himself thou wilt not give, 
Thy truth and mercy they blaspheme. 
Without his inspiration live, 
And call it all a madman's dream. 

" The grace, but not the Spirit of grace, 
Their learned fools vouchsafe t' allow 5 
He might be given in ancient days, 
But God, they teach, is needless now. 

" But God, toe know, is giv'n indeed, 
And still doth in his people dwell ; 
And him we every moment need, 
And him we every moment feel. 

" The life of our indwelling God 
We feel by faith's internal sense, 
Our hearts he makes his bless'd abode, 
And who shall force the Saviour thence ? 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 149 

" Believing still in Jesus' name, 

The witness in ourselves we know, 
And tell the world they all may claim 
The gift, and dwell with God below. 

" The Holt Ghost, whom we partake, 

To all that ask is freely given ; 

And lo ! on this great truth we stake 

Our present and eternal heaven ." 

The same year was also published the second edi- 
tion of a tract, containing seven hymns and eleven 
pages, entitled " Hymns for Ascension Day." One 
hymn was taken from this tract : — 

652. God is gone up on high. 
The hymn beginning, 

" Angels, rejoice in Jesus' grace," 
in the Hymn-book of the M. E. Church, South, and the 
following two in the Wesleyan Collection, — 

" Sinners, rejoice, your peace is made," 
" Jesus, to thee we fly," — 

were derived from the same source. The last-men- 
tioned hymn is subjoined, the fourth and fifth verses of 
which are in Charles Wesley's most impassioned man- 
ner — a style attempted by no other poet, but which 
seems perfectly natural to him : — 

" Jesus, to thee we fly, 

On thee for help rely : 
Thou our only refuge art. 

Thou dost all our fears control, 
Rest of every troubled heart, 

Life of every dying soul. 

" We lift our joyful eyes, 
And see the dazzling prize, 



150 METHODIST HYM>OLOGY. 

See the purchase of thy blood, 

Freely now to sinners given ; 
Thou the living way hast show'd, 

Thou to us hast open'd heaven. 

" We now divinely bold 

Of thy reward lay hold ; 
All thy glorious joy is ours, 

All the treasures of thy love ; 
Now we taste the heavenly powers, 

Now we reign Avith thee above. 

" Our anchor sure and fast 

Within the veil is cast ; 
Stands our never-failing hope 

Grounded in the holy place, 
We shall after Thee mount up, 

See the Godhead face to face. 

" By faith already there, 

In thee our Head we are, 
With our great Forerunner, we 

Now in heavenly places sit, 
Banquet with the Deity, 

Sec the world beneath our feet. 

" Thou art our flesh and bone, 

Thou art to heaven gone ! 
Gone, that we might all pursue, 

Closely in thy footsteps tread, 
Gone, that we might follow too, 

Reign triumphant with our Head." 

The third edition of " Hymns for our Lord's Re- 
surrection," appeared in the year 1748. This is a 
tract of twenty-three pages, and sixteen hymns, the 
last of which is " for Ascension Day." Two hymns in 
the Methodist Hymn-book are from this source : — 

259. Rejoice, the Lord is King ! 
650. Father, God, we glorify. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 151 

And another in the Wesleyan, — 

" Come, then, thou prophet of the Lord." 

There is a most excellent hymn in this tract, founded 
upon a portion of the "Litany," in the Booh of Com- 
mon Prayer, which we venture to insert entire, notwith- 
standing its length, feeling assured that no admirer of 
genuine Wesleyan poetry will be offended. The fol- 
lowing is the passage from the Litany : — 

" By the mystery of thy holy incarnation ; by thy 
holy nativity and circumcision ; by thy baptism, fast- 
ing, and temptation ; by thine agony and bloody sweat ; 
by thy cross and passion ; by thy precious death and 
burial; by thy glorious resurrection and ascension; 
and by the coming of the Holy Ghost ; good Lord, 
deliver us." 

"Jesus, show us thy salvation, 

(In thy strength we strive with thee,) 
By thy mystic incarnation, 

By thy pure nativity ; 
Save us thou, our new Creator, 

Into all our souls impart 
Thy divine, unsinning nature, 
Form thyself within our heart. 

" By thy first blood-shedding heal us ; 

Cut us off from every sin, 
By thy circumcision seal us, 

Write thy law of love within ; 
By thy Spirit circumcise us, 

Kindle in our hearts a flame ; 
By thy baptism now baptize us 

Into all thy glorious name. 

" By thy fasting and temptation 
Mortify our vain desires, 
Take away what sense or passion, 
Appetite or flesh, requires ; 



152 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Arm us with thy self-denial, 
Every tempted soul defend, 

Save us in the fiery trial, 
Make us faithful to the end. 

" By thy sorer suff 'rings save us, 

Save us when conform'd to thee ; 
By thy miseries relieve us, 

By thy painful agony : 
When beneath thy frown we languish, 

When wc feel thine anger's weight, 
Save us by thine unknown anguish, 

Save us by thy bloody sweat. 

" By that highest point of passion, 

By thy suff 'ring on the tree, 
Save us from the indignation 

Due to all mankind and me : 
Hanging, bleeding, panting, dying, 

Gasping out thy latest breath, 
By thy precious death's applying, 

Save us from eternal death. 

" From the world of care release us, 

By thy decent burial save, 
Crucified with thee, O Jesus, 

Hide us in thy quiet grave ; 
By thy power divinely glorious, 

By thy resurrection's power, 
Raise us up o'er sin victorious, 

Raise us up to sin no more. 

" By the pomp of thine ascending, 

Live we here to heaven restor'd, 
Live in pleasures never ending, 

Share the portion of our Lord ; 
Let us have our conversation 

With the blessed spirits above, 
Saved with all thy great salvation, 

Perfectly renew'd in love. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 15S 

" Glorious Head, triumphant Saviour, 

High enthroned above all height, 
"We have now through thee found favor, 

Righteous in thy Father's sight ; 
Hears he not thy prayer unceasing ? 

Can he turn away thy face 1 
Send us down the purchased blessing, 

Fullness of the gospel grace. 

" By the coming of thy Spirit, 

As a mighty rushing wind, 
Save us into all thy merit, 

Into all thy sinless mind ; 
Let the perfect grace be given, 

Let thy will in us be seen, 
Done on earth as 'tis in heaven, 

Lord, thy Spirit cries, Amen !" 

All the Hymn-books, except their first one, published 
by the Wesley s previous to the year 1741, bore on the 
title-page the names of both brothers ; but this year 
was issued from the press a small volume, entitled, 
" A Collection of Psalms and Hymns," by John 
Wesley, alone. This volume reached its third edition 
previous to the year 1748, and was reissued in England 
by Mr. Wesley, in the year 1784, with the title, "A 
Collection of Psalms and Hymns for the Lord's Day. 
Published by John Wesley, A. M., late Fellow of Lin- 
coln College, Oxford ; and Charles Wesley, A. M., late 
Student of Christ Church, Oxford," and, together with 
an Abridgment of the Liturgy of the Church of Eng- 
land, was sent over to America, for the use of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. The 
second, and last edition, was published by Mr. Wesley, 
and sent over in the year 1786 ; but the book was little 
used by the Methodists, and a copy of it is now seldom 
7* 



154 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

to be seen. The writer has, for some years, been seek- 
ing for the work, but has failed to procure a complete 
volume ; an imperfect copy of the first edition being nil 
that has yet rewarded his labors. About thirty-five 
hymns only were transferred from this work to the 
Hymn-book of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

In the year 1788 the Psalms and Hymns for the 
Lord's Day were again republished by Mr. Wesley ; 
the occasion of which is explained in the following 
quotation from Mr. Roberts's very able and interesting 
tract, entitled " Hymnblogy," published at Bristol, in 
the year 1808, "with particular reference to the pro- 
priety of having an additional volume of hymns, for 
general worship among the people called Methodists." 
"That book," says he, alluding to Mr. Wesley's large 
Hymn-book, "was not introduced by him in London, 
Bristol, or any place, when the liturgy avms read, and 
service performed by him in canonical hours. For that 
occasion, from almost the commencement of Methodism, 
a collection of 'Psalms and Hymns' had been used; 
which, though small, Mr. Wesley well appreciated, so 
far as it goes, for its adaptation to general worship, the 
subjects being chiefly praise and adoration. And there- 
fore, many years after he had published the Hymn- 
book, (1780,) when he made the abridgment of the 
liturgy, (1*788,) and gave it to the world as ' The Sun- 
day Service of the Methodists,' he printed with this 
service, in a continuation of pages, a new edition of the 
'Psalms and Hymns for the Lord's Day.' " 

This extract throws some light upon Mr. Wesley's 
views of the relative importance of -the service of " the 
Church," and Methodist service, which was seldom held 
in "canonical hours," and which, according to the 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 155^ 

showing of the large Minutes of the conference, was 
" public worship " only " in a sense, but not such 
as supersedes the Church service." Such was the 
opinion of Mr. Wesley, and the body of preachers in 
connection with him ; but the English Methodists, since 
the death of their father and founder, have assumed 
their proper position of a separate and independent 
church, and no longer deem it either their duty or in- 
terest to consider themselves any " part or parcel " of 
the national Church Establishment. 

From the above account it will appear, that the 
Psalms and Hymns for many years held a very con- 
spicuous place among the various instrumentalities, 
used by the Wesleys, for promoting the spread of what 
the world has been pleased to stigmatize with the name 
of Methodism. 

In the year 1748 was published a fourth edition of 
the Psalms and Hymns, enlarged, by the introduction 
of some of Charles Wesley's versified paraphrases of 
the Psalms, and his name, as well as his brother's, in- 
serted in the title-page. Eleven editions of this work 
appeared during Mr. John Wesley's lifetime. 

The two collections of Psalms and Hymns thus 
noticed, are the same referred to in the "Advertise- 
ment" to the Supplement added in 1830 to the English 
Hymn-book, as " The Morning Hymn-hook, prepared 
by Mr. Wesley for the London congregations, or in a 
smaller collection published by him." 

The " enlarged" edition of the Psalms and Hymns, 
published in 1748, is a volume of one hundred and forty- 
eight pages, and was written almost entirely by Dr. 
Watts and Charles Wesley ; but there are a few hymns 
by Samuel Wesley, Jun., Addison, Tate and Brady, and 



156 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

Dryden ; and a few are from the pen of John Wesley 
himself, but only two or three of them can be distin- 
guished from those of his brother. The first lines of 
such hymns as are found both in this volume and in the 
Methodist Hymn-book are subjoined. It is gratifying to 
know that the following hymns by Dr. Watts had the 
sanction and revision of Mr. John Wesley : — 

130. All glory to the dying Lamb. 

276. Almighty Maker, God. 

554. And mast this body die. 

266. Before Jehovah's awful throne. 

129. Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove. 

252. Come ye that love the Lord. 

269. Come let us join our cheerful songs. 

212. Eternal Power, whose high abode. 

203. Eternal Wisdom, Thee we praise. 
201. Father, how wide thy glory shines. 
115. Great God, indulge my humble claim. 
G92. God is a name my soul adores. 

27. How sad our state by nature is. 

262. I '11 praise my Maker while I 've breath. 
246. Jesus, thou everlasting King. 

140. Lord, all I am is known to Thee. 

263. Let every tongue thy goodness speak. 
45. My drowsy powers, why sleep ye so ! 

261. My God, the spring of all my joys. 
553. God, our help in ages past. 

264. Praise ye the Lord, 'tis good to raise. 

204. Praise ye the Lord, ye immortal choirs. 
550. Thee we adore, eternal Name. 

693. The Lord Jehovah reigns. 

651. What equal honors shall we bring. 

379. With joy we meditate the grace. 

44. Why should the children of a King. 

Two hymns are by John Wesley : 

120. 0. Sun of righteousness, arise. 
496. We lift our hearts to Thee. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 157 

The following are by Charles Wesley : — 
49- Lord Jesus, when, when shall it be. 
131. Father, I stretch my hands to thee. 
189. Of Him who did salvation bring. 
497. All praise to Him who dwells in bliss. 
523. Our Lord is risen from the dead. 
202. When Israel out of Egypt came. 
172. To the hills I lift mine eyes. 

By Addison : — 

75. When rising from the bed of death. 
388. The Lord my pasture shall prepare. 
377. When all thy mercies, my God. 

By S. Wesley, Jun. : — 

522. The Lord of sabbath let us praise. 
689. Hail, Father, whose creating call. 

By Tate and Brady : — 

619. With glory clad, with strength array 'd. 

By Dryden : — 

655. Creator, Spirit, by whose aid. 

The following hymns in the Hymn-book of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, are by Charles 
Wesley : — 

" Again the kind revolving year." 

" Behold how good a thing." 

" Father of mercies, hear our prayers." 

" Grace every morning new." 

" Hail, holy, holy, holy Lord." 

" O Thou, who when I did complain." 

" The earth, and all her fullness owns." 

" Who in the Lord confide." 

By Samuel Wesley, Jun. : — 

" From whence these dire portents around V 
" Hail, God the Son, in glory crown'd." 
" Hail, Holy Ghost, Jehovah, third." 
" The Sun of righteousness appears." 



158 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Three hymns in the Wesleyan Hymn-book are also 
from the " Psalms and Hymns," and were written by 
Charles Wesley : — 

" My heart is full of Christ, and longs," 
" My heart is fix'd, O God, my heart." 
" Out of the depth of self-despair." 

Although there is sufficient reason to believe that 
Mr. John Wesley had a higher opinion of his brother's 
than of Watts's poetry, yet, the great number of hymns 
in the volume under examination, by the latter author, 
proves conclusively that Mr. Wesley envied not the doc- 
tor's already far-extended reputation. Indeed, nothing 
like rivalry or envy ever interposed a barrier between 
these two great and good men ; but while Mr. Wesley 
proved to the world that he properly appreciated the ex- 
cellent lrymns of Watts, by publishing them in his Hymn- 
books for the use of his congregations, the doctor, on 
his part, was not backward to affirm that he considered 
Charles Wesley's hymns far superior to his own. The 
expression of such a sentiment by Dr. Watts, whether 
correct or not, is the greatest compliment he could pay 
the Methodist poet. 

The volume contains fourteen hymns for charity chil- 
dren, but especially " for the Georgia orphans," doubt- 
less intended to promote Mr. Whitefield's benevolent 
plans in reference to his Orphan House, as well as to pro- 
duce in the hearts of the orphans themselves a spirit of 
piety and thankfulness. It is strange that these delight- 
ful compositions have not found their way into some of 
the numerous collections of hymns for children, which, 
of late years, have so greatly multiplied. Pity the 
contents of some of them were not more worthy of the 
pious intentions of their authors, and the important ob- 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 159 

jects they are intended to accomplish. There is in this 
respect a mine of pure Wesleyan ore, yet unopened, in 
reservation for the Methodist Church. How far she is 
culpable for not having tvorked this mine, we will not pre- 
sume to say ; but when we come to consider C. Wesley's 
" Hymns for Children," it will afford a suitable opportu- 
nity to express an opinion on this all-important subject. 
The reader will now have an opportunity to judge of 
the merits of these hymns by a few specimens : 

Come let us join our God to bless, 

And praise him evermore ; 
The Father of the fatherless, 

The helper of the poor. 

Our dying parents us forsake ; 

His mercy takes us up, 
Kindly vouchsafes his oavii to make, 

And God becomes our hope. 

For us he in the wilderness 

A table hath prepared ; 
Us, whom his love delights to bless, 

His providence to guard. 

Known unto him are all our needs ; 

And when we see his face, 
His open hand our bodies feeds, 

Our souls he feeds with grace. 

Then let us in his service spend 

What we from him receive ; 
And back to him what he shall send 

In thanks and praises give. 

FOR TFTEIR BENEFACTORS. 

Father of mercies, hear our prayer 

For those that do us good ; 
Whose love for us a place prepares, 

And gives the orphans food. 



160 METHODIST HrMNOLOGY. 

Their alms, in blessings on their head, 

A thousandfold restore ; 
O feed their souls with living bread, 

And let their cup run o'er. 

For ever in thy Christ built up, 

Thy bounty let them prove, 
Steadfast in faith, joyful through hope, 

And rooted deep in love. 

For those who kindly founded this, 

A better house prepare ; 
Remove them to thy heavenly bliss, 

And let us meet them there. 

BEFORE GOING TO WORK. 

Let us go forth, 'tis God commands, 

Let us make haste away ; 
Offer to Christ our hearts and hands, 

We work for Christ to-day. 

When he vouchsafes our hands to use, 

It makes the labor sweet ; 
If any now to work refuse, 

Let not the sluggard cat. 

Who would not do what God ordains, 

And promises to bless ? 
Who would not 'scape the toils and pains 

Of sinful idleness ? 

In vain to Christ the slothful pray, 

We have not leara'd him so ; 
No ; for he calls himself the Way, 

And work'd himself below. 

Then let us in his footsteps tread, 

And gladly act our part ; 
On earth employ our hands and head, 

But give him all our heart. 

How exceedingly honorable are these hymns to the 
character of Mr. Charles Wesley ! True, he and Mr. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 161 

Whitefield differed upon some doctrinal subjects, yet they 
were one in heart and affection ; and heartily did "Wes- 
ley enter into the spirit of his friend's benevolent plans, 
and do all in his power to promote them. What a 
noble example of Christian forbearance and charity 
does such conduct exhibit to the followers of a common 
Saviour ! Would that it were more generally adopted ! 
The following verse from the eighth Psalm, contain- 
ing a remarkably literal translation, is inserted as a spe- 
cimen of the psalms, and for the gratification of the 
reader : — • 

" Jesus, his Eecleemer, dies, 

The sinner to restore ; 
Falls that man may rise again, 

And stand as heretofore ; 
Foremost of all created things, 

Head of all thy works he stood, 
Nearest the great King of kings, 

And little less than God /" 

There is a note referring to the italicized words in the 
last line, which says, " So it is in the Hebrew." 

About the close of the year 1*749, Mr. Charles 
Wesley published two additional volumes of " Hymns 
and Sacred Poems." The Hymn-books which he and 
his brother had before given to the public, bore their 
joint names ; but there was no other intimation respect- 
ing the authorship of the different compositions. The 
reader is not informed which were written by John, and 
which by Charles. The two volumes which were now 
first published, bore Charles's name only, and were 
thus authenticated as his own. 

The friendship which subsisted between the two bro- 



162 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

thers was of the purest kind. They had no jealousy of 
rivalship, and neither of them claimed, previous to this 
time, the honor of his own productions. The superior 
merit of their hymns was felt by every reader of taste 
and judgment. In strength and elegance of diction, in 
poetic beauty, and in manliness of thought, they sur- 
passed all similar compositions that had ever appeared 
in the English language. 

The writer has seen two copies, one of the first, the 
other of the second, edition of this work. The first 
edition, as above stated, was published in the year 1749, 
and is without either preface or index ; the second ap- 
peared in the years 1755 and 1756, with the addition 
of an index to the hymns, and a table of contents. It 
is unknown to the writer if any other editions were pub- 
lished. They are substantial duodecimo volumes of 
nearly 350 pages each, and contain 555 hymns and 
poems, many of which are of considerable length. 
While these volumes, sa} r s his biographer, exhibit 
Charles Wesley's piety and genius to great advantage, 
they throw much light upon his personal history, and 
his prevalent habits of thought. 

Some of the poems are founded upon particular texts 
of Scripture ; others express the author's religious feel- 
ings in peculiar states of mind ; not a few were written 
upon special occasions, as the death of friends, provi- 
dential deliverances, the success of the ministry, the 
persecution and opposition with which he had to con- 
tend. Several of them are intended for persons in 
peculiar circumstances, such as ministers of the gospel, 
medical practitioners, widows, the afflicted, and the 
dying. More than one-fourth of the second volume 
consists of " Hymns for Christian Friends." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 163 

There are two hymns " On the Death of Thomas 
Beard," a Methodist preacher, who was impressed for 
a soldier, and died in the hospital at Newcastle ; one of 
which may serve as a specimen of these composures : — 

" Soldier of Christ, adieu ! 

Thy conflicts here are past, 
Thy Lord hath brought thee through, 

And given the crown at last : 
Rejoice to wear the glorious prize, 
Rejoice with God in paradise. 

" There all thy suff 'rings cease, 

There all thy griefs are o'er, 
The pris'ner is at peace, 

The mourner weeps no more ; 
From man's oppressive tyranny 
Thou liv'st, thou liv'st for ever free, 

" Torn from thy friends below 

In banishment severe, 
A man of strife and wo, 

No more thou wand'rest here ; 
Join'd to thy better friends above, 
At rest in thy Eedeemer's love. 

" No longer now constrain'd 

With human fiends to dwell, 
To see their evil pain'd, 

Their blasphemies to feel : 
Angels and saints thy comrades are, 
And all adore the Saviour there. 

" Thou canst not there bemoan 

Thy friends' or country's loss, 
Through sore oppression groan, 

Or faint beneath the cross : 
The joy hath swallow'd up the pain, 
And death is thy eternal gain. 

" What hath their malice done 
Who hurried hence thy soul ? 



164 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

When half thy race was run, 

They push'd thee to the goal ; 
Sent to the souls supremely bless'd, 
And drove thee to thy earlier rest. 

" Thou out of great distress 
To thy reward art past, 
Triumphant happiness, 

And joys that always last : 
Thanks be to God. who set thee free, 
And gave the final victory. 

" Thy victory we share. 

Thy glorious joy we feel, 
Parted in flesh we are. 

But join'd in spirit still : 
And still we on our brethren call 
To praise the common Lord of all. 

" Not for your needless aid, 

Not for your useless prayers, 
(Jesus for us hath prayd, 

And all our burdens bears ;) 
Yet still on you we call, and cry, 
Extol the Lord of earth and sky. 

" Then let us still maintain 

Our fellowship divine, 
And till we meet again 

In Jesus' praises join ; 
Thus, till we all your raptures know, 
Sing you above, and we below !"' 

From these volumes were transferred a large number 
of hymns, which now constitute a part of the standard 
collection : — 

61. Author of faith, to thee I cry. 
465. Are there not in the laborers day. 
569. Again we lift our voice. 
152. Author of faith, we seek thy face. 
590. All things are possible to him. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 165 

521. Away with our fears. 
431. And let our bodies part. 
356. And are we yet alive 1 
424. All thanks to the Lamb. 
86. Ah, where am I now? (2d part.) 
401. Angels your march oppose. (2d part.) 
427. Appointed by Thee, We meet in thy name. 

400. But, above all, lay hold. (2d part.) 

168. Bid me of men beware. 

358. But can it be that I should prove. 
315. Behold the servant of the Lord. 

22. Come, thou all-victorious Lord. 
392. Come on, my partners in distress. 
171. Come, ye followers of the Lord. 
327. Come, thou omniscient Son of man. 

413. Come, let us anew our journey pursue, With vigor 
236. Come, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Honor 

414. Come, let us ascend. 

441. Centre of our hopes Thou art. 

688. Canst Thou reject our dying prayer. (2d part.) 
5. Come, then, ye sinners, to your Lord. (2d part.) 

508. Father, to thee I lift mine eyes. 

375. Father, my soul to thee I lift. 
444. Father, at thy footstool see. 

601. Give glory to Jesus our Head. 

108. God of all grace and majesty. 

520. God of my life, to thee. 

162. God of almighty love. 

46. God is in this and every place. 

473. Give me the faith which can remove. 

166. Gracious Bedeemer, shake. 

169. Give me a sober mind. 

157. Help, Lord, to whom for help I fly. 
630. Head of the church, whose Spirit fills. 

86. How happy are they. 

87. How shall a lost sinner in pain. 
556. Happy soul, thy days are ended. 

401 . Hark ! how the watchmen cry. 
177. How can a sinner know. 

245. Infinite, unexhausted Love. 



1U0 METHODIST IIYMXOLOGY. 

400. In fellowship ; alone. (3d part.) 

153. I want a principle within. 

317. Jesus, my truth, my way. 

468. Jesus, the name high over all. 

436. Jesus, we look to thee. 

299. Jesus comes with all his grace. 

145. Jesus, thou sovereign Lord of all. 

474. Jesus, thou soul of all my joys. 

442. Jesus, with kindest pity see. 

435. Jesus, to thee our hearts we lift. 

123. Jesus, from whom all blessings flow. 

51. Jesus, thy far-extended fame. 

30. Jesus, let thy pitying eye. 

96. Jesus, I believe thee near. 

393. Jesus, great Shepherd of the sheep. 
478. Jesus, the conq'ror, reigns. 

419. Jesus, Lord, we look to thee. 

111. Jesus, thou all-redeeming Lord. 

432. Lift up your hearts to things above. 

312. Light of life, seraphic fire. 

10. Lovers of pleasure more than God. 

394. Blaster, I own thy lawful claim. 
255. My God, I am thine. 

36. Love divine, how sweet thou art. 

50. O God, to whom in flesh reveal'd. 

25. O Thou, whom once they flock'd to hear. 

99. O God. thy righteousness we own. 

54. O that I could repent, with all my idols part. 
29. O that I could repent, O that I could believe. 

55. O that I could revere. 

681. O how shall a sinner perform. 

505. Omnipresent God, whose aid. 

407. God, my hope, my heavenly rest. 

449. Thou, our husband, brother, friend. 

343. O Jesus, at thy feet we wait. 

688. O Thou that hangest on the tree. 

409. God, thy faithfulness I plead. 

150. O let the pris'ner's mournful cries. 

448. Our friendship sanctify and guide. 

404. Saviour of all. what hast thou done ! 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 167 

155. Shepherd divine, our wants relieve. 
322. Saviour of the sin-sick soul. 
434. Saviour of sinful men. 
426. See, Jesus, thy disciples see. 

70. Still, Lord, I languish for thy grace. 

52. Saviour, Prince of Israel's race. 

40. Stay, thou insulted Spirit, stay. 
400. Soldiers of Christ, arise. 

5. Sinners, obey the gospel word. 
477. See how great a flame aspires. 
405. Surrounded by a host of foes. 
154. The praying spirit breathe. 
167. Thou seest my feebleness. 
575. Thou God of glorious majesty. 
240. Thou hidden Source of calm repose. 
493. The Lord of earth and sky. 
408. To thee, great God of love, I bow. 
376. Thou, Jesus, thou my breast inspire. 
149. Thee, Jesus, full of truth and grace. 
578. The great archangel's trump shall sound, 
398. The earth is the Lord's. 
416. Thou God of truth and love. 
428. Urge on your rapid course. (2d part.) 

59. When my relief will most display. 

82. Weary of wand'ring from my God. 
291. What am I, O thou glorious God? 
495. Where is my God, my joy, my hope. 
177. We by his Spirit prove. (2d part.) 

The following, in the Hymn-book of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, are from the same volumes : — 

" Away, my needless fears." 

" All praise to the Lamb." 

" Angel of covenanted grace." 

" All praise to the Lord." 

" Come quickly, then, my Lord, and take." 

" Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go." 

" Happy the souls that first believed." 

" Jesus, all-atoning Lamb." 



168 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Jesus, great Healer of mankind." 

" Jesus, the truth, and power divine." 

" Join, all ye ransom'd sons of grace." 

" Peace be to this habitation." 

' ; Rejoice and sing." 

'• Wretch that I am, from God I've stray'd." 

" Wherefore should I make my moan ?" 

" With all my soul, O Lord, I give." 

" Yc neighbors and friends, To Jesus draw near." 

l: Ye virgin souls, arise. 11 

" Ye different sects, who all declare." 

And the following in the English collection : — 

" All ye that pass by." 

" After all that I have done." 

" Come all, whoe'er have set." 

" Come, let us arise." 

" Forgive us, for thy mercy sake." 

"Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, In solemn." 

" God of all power and grace." 

'• Happy soul, that, safe from harms." 

" Into a world of ruffians sent." 

" Jesus comes with all his grace." 

' ; Jesus, soft, harmonious name." 

" Light of life, seraphic fire." 

" Let all men rejoice, By Jesus restored." 

" Lord, we thy will obey." 

' : My brethren beloved, Your caUing ye see." 

" O Thou, who hast redeem'd of old." 

' ; Jesus, my hope." 

" O Jesus, let me bless thy name." 

" O unexhausted grace." 

" my old, my bosom foe." 

" Pris'ners of hope, arise." 

" Saviour, cast a gracious eye." 

" Saviour, to thee we humbly cry." 

" Shepherd of Israel, hear." 

" Thus saith the Lord of earth and heaven." 

" Thus saith the Lord, who seek the Lamb." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 169 

" Thus saith the Lord, 'tis God commands." 
" The Spirit of the Lord, my God." 
" Thy power and saving grace to show." 
" Two are better, far, than one." 

The shocks of the earthquake of March 8th, 1*750, 
were felt in England, and produced in London particu- 
larly the utmost alarm and consternation. It is said 
the earth moved westward, then east, then westward 
again, through all London and Westminster, producing 
a strong jarring motion, attended with a rumbling noise 
like that of thunder. Many houses were shaken, and 
some chimneys thrown down, but no persons lost their 
lives. The terror that possessed the minds of the peo- 
ple, and which continued for several weeks, was still 
more increased by a soldier who " had a revelation," 
and prophesied that a great part of London would be 
destroyed by an earthquake, on a certain night, between 
the hours of twelve and one o'clock. In consequence 
of which, multitudes of people fled from the city and 
sought safety in the fields, while thousands ran about 
the streets all night in the most wild and frantic state 
of consternation, crying, " An earthquake ! an earth- 
quake !" many supposing that the day of judgment was 
about to commence. 

In order to improve and perpetuate the solemn im- 
pressions which were produced by this providential 
visitation, a prayer was composed, suited to the occa- 
sion, and appointed "by his majesty's special com- 
mand" to be read in churches. Forms of prayer, 
" For the Use of Families, on the Occasion of the Late 
Earthquakes, and other Judgments of God upon this 
Nation," and " A Letter to the Clergy and People of 
London and Westminster, on the Occasion of the Late 



1*70 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Earthquakes," the latter by the bishop of London, were 
issued from the press at the same time. Many other 
tracts, bearing upon the same subject, were also put 
into circulation, the titles of some of which may be 
found in Mr. Jackson's Life of Charles Wesley, and in 
the Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon. 
In this kind of service Charles Wesley took an active 
and useful part. He published his well-known ser- 
mon, entitled, " The Cause and Cure of Earthquakes," 
at first anonymously ; perhaps that it might find its 
way, says his biographer, into quarters where the 
name of " Wesley " was unwelcome : but to the second 
edition, which appeared in 1756, he prefixed his 
name.* 

He also sent forth a tract, entitled, " Hymns occa- 
sioned by the Earthquake, March 8th, 1750, in Two 
Parts." The hymns are nineteen in number, and are 
written in the author's peculiar spirit and fervent piety. 
They describe, says Mr. Jackson, " in strong and glow- 
ing terms, the power and sovereignty of God ; his mer- 
ciful and righteous government over man ; national and 
personal sins ; the divine forbearance and long-suffer- 
ing ; the uncertainty of life, and of all earthly posses- 
sions ; and the durable nature of the joys which are 
connected with Christian godliness, both in time and 
eternity. The whole of them are thoroughly devotional, 
and appear to have emanated from a heart deeply 
affected with the perilous state of the nation, arising 

* This sermon appears in the first volume of Mr. John "Wes- 
ley's Sermons, without any intimation being given that it was 
the production of his brother ! In a volume of " Sermons by 
the late Eev. Charles Wesley," published at London in 1816, it 
is not found. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. l7l 

from its cold formality and daring wickedness ; and in 
the midst of surrounding evils calmly reposing in the 
unchanging fidelity and almighty power of Christ as 
the ruler of all worlds. 

" Flamsteed's ' Letter, concerning Earthquakes/ was 
now printed, apparently for the purpose of allaying the 
public alarm; the author confining his attention ex- 
clusively to second causes, and avoiding all reference 
to God whatever. In opposition to the godless 
speculations of such theorists, Mr. Charles "Wesley 
sings :" — 

" From whence these dire portents around, 
That strike us with unwonted fear ? 
Why do these earthquakes rock the ground, 

And threaten our destruction near ? 
Ye prophets smooth, the cause explain, 
And lull us to repose again. 

'"Or water swelling from a vent, 

Or air impatient to get free, 
Or fire within earth's entrails pent,' 

Yet all are orclerVl, Lord, by thee ; 
The elements obey thy nod, 
And Nature vindicates her God. 

" The pillars of the earth are thine, 

And thou hast set the world thereon ; 

They, at thy threat'ning look incline, 
The centre trembles at thy frown, 

The everlasting mountains bow, 

And God is in the earthquake now. 

" Now, Lord, to shake a guilty land, 

Thou dost in indignation rise, 
We sec, we sec, thy lifted hand 

Made bare, a nation to chastise, 
Whom neither plagues nor mercies move, 
To fear thy wrath, or court thy love. 



172 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Therefore the earth heneath us reels, 
And staggers like our drunken men, 

The earth the mournful cause reveals, 
And groans our burden to sustain ; 

Ordain'd our evils to deplore, 

And fall with us to rise no more." 

The exquisitely beautiful hymn, numbered 593 in the 
Methodist Hymn-book, appeared originally in this tract. 
It commences, 

t; How weak the thoughts, and vain, 

Of self-deluded men ; 
Men who. fix"d to earth alone, 

Think their houses shall endure, 
Fondly call their lands their own, 

To their distant heirs secure P 

The following hymn, which has been inserted in the 
English collection, is also from the same sourer : — 

" Come. Desire of nations, come ! 
Hasten. Lord, the general doom ! 
Hear the Spirit and the Bride ; 
Come, and take u> to thy side 

" Thou, who hast our place prepared. 
Make us meet for our reward : 
Then with all thy saints descend : 
Then our earthly trials end. 

" Mindful of thy chosen race, 
Shorten these vindictive days ; 
"Who for full redemption groan, 
Hear us now. and save thine own. 

' : Now destroy the man of sin ; 
Now thine ancient flock bring in ! 
Fill'd with righteousness divine, 
Claim a ran>nm*d world for thine. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. lY3 

" Plant thy heavenly kingdom here ; 
Glorious in thy saints appear, 
Speak the sacred number seal'd, 
Speak the mystery reveal'd. 

" Take to thee thy royal power, 
Eeign, when sin shall be no more ; 
Reign, when death no more shall he ; 
Eeign to all eternity." 

In the year 1753 was published the third edition 
of a tract of twelve pages, containing twenty-four 
hymns and doxologies, entitled " Gloria Patri, &c, 
or, Hymns to the Trinity." None of these has been 
transferred to the collection of hymns used by the Me- 
thodist Episcopal Church ; but other branches of the 
same Christian family have applied to this source for a 
number of beautiful doxologies. The hymns and dox- 
ologies vary in length from four lines to four verses, 
and embrace a great variety of metres. They, in these 
respects, much resemble the " Graces before and after 
Meat." Here follow a few specimens : — 

" To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
One God in persons three, 
Give praise, ye saints, and heavenly host, 
Through all eternity !" 

" Glory to God on high ! 

The God of love and power, 
Who made both earth and sky, 

Let all his works adore : 
Praise to the great Three One be given, 
By all in earth and all in heaven." 

" Glory to God on high ! 
Eternally adored, 



1V4 METHODIST HVMNOLOGY. 

Who gave his Son to die, 
Our dear redeeming Lord, 
He from his throne and bosom gave, 
A world, a sinful world, to save." 

" Worship, and praise, and power, 
Ascribe we to the Lamb, 
His bleeding wounds adore, 
And kiss his precious Name, 
Jesus ! the Name to sinners given, 
The Name that lifts us up to heaven. 

" That blessed Spirit praise 

Who shows tli 1 atoning blood, 
Applies the Saviour's grace, 
And seals the sons of God ; 

Spirit of grace and glory too, 

He claims eternal praise liis due." 

" We with our friends above, 

"When time and death shall end, 
In ecstasies of love 

A heavenly life shall spend, 

Spend in the great Jehovah's praise 

An age of everlasting days.'' 

Four doxologies in the Hymn-book of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, were transferred from this 
tract. They commence thus, 

" Sing we to our God above." 

" To Father, Son, and Spirit." 

" Shout to the great Jehovah's praise." 

" Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." 

And the following in the Wesleyan collection : — 

" Father, live, by all things feard." 

The circumstances of the British nation at the begin- 
ning; of the year 1756, says Mr. Jackson, "were such 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 1*75 

as to excite the most painful feelings in every pious, 
humane, and patriotic mind. A terrible mortality had 
just been prevalent among the cattle, in various parts 
of England, so as, in some places, to leave scarcely any 
alive. Serious quarrels were commenced between the 
French and English colonies in North America ; and 
many of the Protestants there were exposed to robbery 
and murder from their Romish neighbors. Lisbon had 
just been swallowed up by an earthquake. France as- 
sumed a hostile attitude ; and her army, bent upon 
plunder, and full of hatred to Protestantism, threatened 
to cross the channel, subvert the liberties of England, 
and seize the property which was there amassed." In 
this emergency, the Methodists sounded the note of 
warning. Mr. Whitefield published a stirring " Address 
to Persons of all Denominations, occasioned by the 
Alarm of an intended Invasion." Mr. John Wesley, 
at the same time, issued his " Serious Thoughts occa- 
sioned by the Late Earthquake at Lisbon," and his mo- 
dest but faithful " Address to the Clergy." It has been 
well remarked, that if any man in the land was justly 
authorized to admonish these unfaithful watchmen, it 
was John Wesley : for no man of his age had either 
done or suffered so much for the public welfare, or had 
been so successful in stemming the torrent of iniquity, 
and in turning men to righteousness. 

In this crisis of national affairs, Mr. Charles Wesley 
was not behind his brethren in effective zeal, though 
his services were of a somewhat different kind. He 
published a tract of twenty-four pages, containing seven- 
teen hymns, entitled "Hymns for the Year 1756. 
Particularly for the Fast Day, February 6." 
Several of these hymns are of considerable length, and 



176 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

in sublimity and force, says his biographer, are equal 
to any that ever proceeded from his pen. They ex- 
press the deepest sorrow on account of the national 
guilt ; the profoundest alarm at the prospect of God's 
impending judgments ; and strong confidence in him 
as the only refuge in time of danger. Three of these 
hymns have been inserted in the Methodist Hymn- 
book. They are, — 

586. Righteous God, whose vengeful vials. 
576. Stand th' omnipotent decree. 
584. How happy arc the little flock. 

The following stanzas are very striking. They con- 
stitute the fifth part of a hymn, in six parts, founded 
upon the fourth chapter of Jeremiah's prophecies : — 

" I saw the earth, by sin destroy'd, 

And lo ! it lay wrapp'd up in night, 
A chaos without form, and void, 
And robl/d of all its heavenly light, 

" I saw, and lo ! the mountains shook, 
The hills moved lightly to and fro, 
The birds had all the skies forsook, 
Nor man nor beast appear'd below. 

"I saw, and lo! the fruitful place 
Was to a ghastly desert turn'd ; 
Beneath Jehovah's frowning face 

The ghastly desert droop'd and moura'd. 

" The nation, suddenly o'erthrown, 
I saw before the waster's sword ; 
The cities all were broken down, 
In presence of their angry Lord. 

" Tor thus their angry Lord had spoke, 
' The land shall soon be all laid waste : 
Yet will I to the remnant look, 
And spare the weeping few at last. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 1*77 

" ' I will not utterly consume, 

Or make a full destructive end, 
But change my des'late people's doom, 
And every humble soul befriend.' " 

This admirable tract soon passed to a second edi- 
tion, in the title of which the reference to the fast day- 
was omitted. But this was not the only service Charles 
Wesley rendered to the cause of religion in the nation 
in this season of distress. He also reprinted, with en- 
largements, "The Hymns for Times of Trouble and 
Persecution," which he had composed during the 
Rebellion of 1745, as being applicable to the present 
state of the country. At the same time he put to 
press another edition of his "Hymns on the Earth- 
quake of 1750," with three additions : one a prayer for 
the English in America ; another, on the destruction of 
Lisbon; and a third for the year 1756. A part of 
that on the overthrow of Lisbon has been transferred to 
the Methodist Hymn-book, and makes hymns 

581. Woe to the men on earth, who dwell. 
583. By faith we find the place above. 

" Such," says Mr. Jackson, " was the manner in which 
this man of God aided the devotions of the more reli- 
gious part of the nation, and endeavored to render the 
afflictive dispensations of divine Providence subservient 
to the cause of piety, and the improvement of the pub- 
lic morals. His hymns, which far surpassed in power 
and correct versification all similar compositions that 
had before appeared in the English language, must 
have produced considerable effect at the time, adapted 
as they were to public events upon which every eye 
was intensely fixed." 



178 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

In the year 1758, Charles Wesley published seven 
hymns for the lay preachers. The title of this tract 
was afterward altered to "Hymns for the Use of 
the Methodist Preachers." The last of these com- 
positions, is subjoined. It is entitled, 

THE PREACHER'S PRAYER FOR HIS FLOCK. 

Shepherd of souls, the great, the good, 
For the dear purchase of thy blood 

To thee in faith we pray ; 
The lambs and sheep of England's fold, 
Now in thy hook of life enroll'd, 

Preserve unto that day. 

"Whom thou by us hast gathered in. 
Defend the little flock from sin, 

From eiTor's path secure : 
Stay with them, Lord, when we depart. 
And guard the issues of their beaut, 

And keep their conscience pure. 

Soon as their guides are taken home, 
We know the grievous wolves will come. 

Determined not to spare : 
The stragglers from thy wounded side, 
The wolves will into sects divide, 

And into parties tear. 

E'en of ourselves shall men arise, 
With words perverse and soothing lies, 

Our children to beset : 
Disciples for themselves to make, 
And draw, for filthy lucre's sake, 

The sheep into their net. 
What then can their protection be ? 
The virtue that proceeds from Thee, 

The power of humble love ; 
The strength of all-sufficient grace 
Received in thine appointed ways, 

Can land them safe above. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 1^9 

Now, Saviour, clothe them with thy power, 
And arm their souls against that hour 

With faith invincible ; 
Teach them to wield the Spirit's sword, 
And mighty in the written word, 

To chase both earth and hell. 

When I, from all my burdens freed, 
Am number'd with the peaceful dead, 

In everlasting rest, 
Pity the sheep I leave behind, 
My God, unutterably kind, 

And lodge them in thy breast. 

never suffer them to leave 

The church, where Thou art pleased to give 

Such tokens of thy grace ! 
Confirm them in their calling here, 
Till ripe by holiest love t' appear 

Before thy glorious face. 

Whom I into thy hands commend, 
Wilt thou not keep them to the end, 

Thou infinite in love ? 
Assure me, Lord, it shall be so, 
And let my quiet spirit go 

To join the church above. 

Sion, my first, my latest care, 
The burden of my dying prayer, 

Now in thine arms I see ; 
And sick on earth of seeing more, 

1 hasten home, my God t' adore 

Through all eternity. 

There are two tracts by the Wesleys, entitled " Fu- 
nk kal- Hymns," although Mr. Jackson, in his Life of 
Charlei Wesley, has noticed but one, the larger, the 
contents of which he attributes entirely to Charles. 
Nor does he seem to be aware that there was another 
tract bearing the same title, as he makes no mention of 



180 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

the fact. That which was first published, the smaller 
tract, containing twenty-four pages, has the names of 
both brothers, and the following motto, in the title- 
page : — « Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." 
Rev. xiv, 13. The third edition appeared in the yen 
1*753; the eighth, in 1708, "London: Printed for 
George Whitefield, City Road," a copy of which is 
before the writer. It consists of sixteen hymns, serea 
of which have been inserted in the Methodist Episcopal 
Hymn-book : — 

557. Ah! lovely appearance of death. 

541. Away with our sorrow and fear. 
560. Hosanna to Jeans on high. 

558. Rejoice for a brother deceased. 
669. when shall we sweetly remove. 

559. Tis hnish'd ! 'tis done I the spirit i> Bed 

542. We know, by faith we know. 

One more in the collection of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, South : — 

- Hosanna to God, In his highest abode." 

Another, in the Wesleyan Hymn-book, beginning, 

•• Happy who in Jesus live; 
But happier still are they 
AVho to God their spirit- {j 
And 'scape from earth away." 

The larger tract, containing seventy pages, and forty- 
three hymns, is completely anonymous, the title being 
simply : " Funeral Hymns. London : Printed in the 
year MDCCL1X." The entire contents of this tract 
are ascribed to Charles Wesley by his biographer, 
who is evidently in error in calling this the "fourth 
edition, greatly enlarged," of Charles Wesley's Funeral 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 181 

Hymns, there being no such intimation on the title- 
page ; nor is there one hymn in the smaller tract to be 
found in the larger. 

Here, for the first time, appeared the three exquisite 
compositions, which, for sweetness and spirituality, were 
never surpassed, beginning, 

274. How happy every child of grace ; 

555. And let this feeble body fail ; 
and 

" Come, let us join our friends above." 

Mr. John Wesley once alluded to the well-known 
remark of Dr. Watts in reference to Charles Wesley's 
hymn, entitled, " Wrestling Jacob," and exclaimed, " O 
what would Dr. Watts have said if he had lived to see 
my brother's exquisite funeral hymns, beginning, 

" How happy every child of grace ;" 
and 

" Come, let us join our friends above." 

The omission of the last-named hymn from our Hymn- 
book will ever be a cause of regret to all lovers of Wes- 
leyan hymnology. 

But this volume is rendered especially interesting by 
the insertion of various hymns which were written on 
occasions of the deaths of several pious individuals, the 
writer's personal friends. Among the number are the 
Rev. J. Meriton, J. Hutchinson, Thomas Walsh, James 
Hervey, and others, male and female. In the English 
edition of the Life of C. Wesley, several of those beau- 
tiful poems are given entire. The following hymn is 
on the death of Mr. Lampe, " the converted infidel and 
theatrical musician ;" in which allusion is beautifully 
made to his profession, and the metre corresponds with 
the joyous character of the sentiments : — 



182 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

'Tis done ! the sovereign Will 's obcy'd, 
The soul, by angel-guards convey'd, 

Has took its seat on high ; 
The brother of my choice is gone, 
To music sweeter than Ins own, 

To concerts in the sky. 

His spirit mounting on the wine, 
Rejoiced to hear the convoy sing, 

While harping at hk 
With ease he caught their heavenly strain, 
And Broiled, and Bang in mortal pain, 

He song, and Bmiled, and died. 

Enroll'd with that harmonious throng, 
lie hears th' unutterable song, 

Th' unutterable Name : 
He sees the Master of the choir, 
He bows, and strikes the golden lyre. 

And hymns the glorious Lamb. 

lie hymns the glorious Lamb a 

No more constraint to make his moan 

In this sad wilder;. 
To toil for sublunary pay, 
And cast his sacred strains «\ 

And stoop the world to please. 

Redeem'd from earth, the tuneful soul, 
While everlasting ages roll, 

His triumphs shall prolong ; 
His noblest faculties exert, 
And all the music of his heart 

Shall warble on his tongue. 

O that my mournful days were past ! 
that I might o*ertake at last 

My happy friend above; 
With him the church triumphant join, 
And celebrate, in strains divine, 

The majesty of love ! 



METHODIST HYMtfOLOGY. 183 

Great God of love, prepare my heart, 
And tune it now to bear a part 

In heavenly melody ; 
" I '11 strive to sing as loud as they, 
Who sit enthroned in brighter day," 

And nearer the Most High. 

O that the promised time were come ! 
that we all were taken home, 

Our Master's joy to share ! 
Draw, Lord, the living vocal stones, 
Jesus, recall thy banish'd ones, 

To chant thy praises there. 

Our number and our bliss complete, 
And summon all the choir to meet 

Thy glorious throne around ; 
The whole musician-band bring in, 
And give the signal to begin, 

And let the trumpet sound ! 

There are two hymns on the death of Rev. James 
Hervey, which were, in all probability, composed imme- 
diately after that sad event had occurred, and before 
the injurious libel, which soon after was published in the 
notorious work, entitled, "Eleven Letters, "had appeared; 
but still containing a reference to the peculiar opinions of 
which his deceased friend had latterly become the advo- 
cate. At a subsequent period, says Mr. Jackson, Charles 
Wesley " was somewhat indelicately requested to write 
an epitaph on Mr. Hervey, probably to be placed upon a 
tablet to his memory. This service he declined, feeling 
the deep and unprovoked injury inflicted upon his bro- 
ther by the interpolated and dishonest publication, 
which was circulated through the three kingdoms, and 
induced many uninformed persons to consider Mr. John 
Wesley as a pestilent heretic. Instead of writing the 



184 METHODIST IIYMXOLOGV. 

desired epitaph, he wrote the following pithy lines, 
which he left among his manuscripts : — 

O'erreach'd, impell'd by a sly Gnostic's art, 
To stab his father, guide, and faithful friend, 

Would pious Ilcrvey act the accuser's part? 
And could a life like his in malice end 1 

No : by redeeming Love the snare is broke: 
In death his rash ingratitude he blames : 

Desires and wills the evil to revoke 

And dooms th' unfinish'd libel to the flames. 

Who then for filthy gain betray'd his trust. 
And Bhow'd a kinsman's fault in open light! 

Let him adorn the monumental bnstj 

Th' encomium fair in brass or marble write. 

Or if they need a nobler trophy raise, 
As long as Theron and Aspasio live. 

Let Madan or Romaine record his praise; 
Enough that Wesley's brother can forgive. 

One of Mr. Charles Wesley's truly tender and af- 
fectionate hymns on Mr. limey's death will now be 
subjoined : — 

" He 's gone ! the spotless soul is gone 

Triumphant to his place above ; 
The prison- walls are broken down, 

The angels speed his swift remove, 
And shouting on their wings he flies, 
And Hervey rests in paradise. 

" Through the last dreadful conflict brought, 
Which shook so sore his dying breast, 
Far happier for that bitter draught, 

AVith more transcendent raptures blest, 
He finds for every patient groan 
A jewel added to his crown. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 185 

Saved by the merits of his Lord, 
Salvation, praise to Christ he gives, 

Yet still his merciful reward, 
According to his works receives, 

And with the seed he sow'd below 

His bliss eternally shall grow. 

Eedeem'd by righteousness divine, 
In God's own portraiture complete, 

With brighter rays ordain'd to shine, 
He casts his crown at Jesus' feet, 

And hails him sitting on the throne, 

For ever saved by grace alone. 

The biographer of C. Wesley, referring to the opinion 
expressed by Mr. Moore, that the genius of Mr. Wesley 
appeared to most advantage in his " Hymns for Fami- 
lies," remarks, that if a preference be allowed, " where 
all is excellent," he would specify the " Funeral Hymns," 
including not only those which were published under 
that name, but all that were written on occasions of the 
deaths of pious individuals. 

"Hymns for New- Year's Day," is the title of a 
small tract, containing seven hymns, which was pub- 
lished in the year 1*755. With the exception of one, 
that was taken from a previous publication, the hymns 
appear here for the first time, four of which have been 
inserted in the Hymn-book : — 

6. Blow ye the trumpet, blow. 
492. Come, let us anew Our journey pursue. 
494. Sing to the great Jehovah's praise. 
662. Wisdom ascribe, and might, and praise. 

The writer is exceedingly gratified to be able thus un- 
questionably to verify the authorship of that favorite 
hymn, — 



186 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Blow yc the trampct, blow," &c., 

and to reclaim it for its true author, Mr. Charles Wi 
ley. This delightful lyric has long been, by many 
Hymn-book compilers — and among the rest the editor 
of the Methodist Protestant collection — erroneously 
attributed to the Rev. Augustus Toplady ; perhaps be- 
cause it is found in the collection of hymns published 
by him, — as some other Wesleyan co mp os iti ons have 
been fathered upon him on no better authority. 

During the year 1756 was published the second edi- 
tion, enlarged, of Mr. Charles Wesley's "Hymns on 
God's Everlasting Love," in two parts, numbering 
eighty-four pages. The first edition of this tract, hav- 
ing thirty-six pages, appeared in the year 1741. Seve- 
ral of these hymns, says our poet's biographer, "are 
eminently beautiful, and breathe a spirit of enlightened 
and fervent piety: a considerable proportion of them 
were inserted in the collection which is in general use 
in the Wesleyan congregations. They were published 
not long after the sermon on 'Free Grace,' the hading 
principles of which they embody : and at the time of 
their appearance they could scarcely be less powerful 
in their influence upon the public mind than was that 
very impassioned argumentative discourse." 

The following hymns from this volume have been in- 
serted in the Methodist Episcopal Hymn-book : — 

37. Ah ! whither should I go. 
239. Come, let us who in Christ believe. 
403. Equip me for the war. 

14. Let the beasts their breath resign. 
256. Let earth and heaven agree. 
114. Lo ! in thy hand I lay. 
7. O, all that pass by, To Jesus draw near. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 187 

95. O, 'tis enough, my God, my God. 
101. O God, if thou art love, indeed. 
98. O Jesus ! full of grace. 
4. Sinners, turn, why will ye die ? 
16. Sinners, believe the gospel word. 
15. See, sinners, in the gospel glass. 
8. Thy faithfulness, Lord, Each moment we find. 
14. What could your Redeemer do. (2d part.) 
199. "Would Jesus have the sinner die ? 

The following two in the collection of the M. E. 
Church, South : — 

" my offended God." 

" Gracious Redeemer, hear." 

And three more in the Wesleyan Hymn-book : — 

" Ah ! when shall I awake 1" 

" Father, whose everlasting love." 

" Glorious Saviour of my soul." 

During the year 1758, C. Wesley published " Hymns 
of Intercession for all Mankind," with this appro- 
priate motto, " I exhort, therefore, that first of all, sup- 
plications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, 
be made for all men." England, as well as nearly the 
whole of Europe, was at war at this time ; and the 
principal Methodist societies in England held meetings 
every Friday, at 12 o'clock, for the purpose of inter- 
ceding with God in behalf of the church, the nation, 
and the world. The titles of the hymns contained in 
this tract, which are forty in number, have special 
reference to the circumstances just mentioned, as the 
following specimens will show : — For Peace. For the 
Church Catholic. For the Church of England. For 
Ministers of the Gospel. For his Majesty, King George. 
For the Prince of Wales. For the Kin^ of Prussia. 



188 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

For the Magistrates. For the Parliament. There were 
also hymns for the fleet, army, universities, sick persons, 
young children, orphans, widows, prisoners, for Jews, 
Turks, heathens, and " for our enemies," &c. The fol- 
lowing hymns were taken from this tract : — 

142. Let God, who comforts the distress'd. 
151. Our earth we now lament to sec. 

602. Sun of unclouded righteousness. 

603. Lord over all, if thou hast made. 

574. He comes ! he comes ! the Judge severe ! 
573. Lo, he comes! with clouds ded ending! 
580. Lift your heads, ye friends of Jesus. 

And the fine hymn in the collection of the Methodist 
E. Church, South, commencing, 

"Father of faithful Abrah'm, hear 

Our earnest suit for Abraham's seed; 
Justly they claim the softest prayer 
From us, adopted in their stead, 
Who mercy through their fall obtain, 
And Christ, by their rejection, gain." 

Most of the hymns refer to the disturbed condition 
of England, the country being still at war with France, 
and experiencing additional trouble in consequence of 
the war of Austria and France with Prussia. The suc- 
ceeding year, the French made several unsuccessful 
attempts or demonstrations to invade England, frequent 
allusions to which are made in Mr. Wesley's Journal ; 
and in reference to which Mr. Jackson remarks : — " In 
this emergency of the national affairs, some trusted in 
the valor, strength, and skill, of the fleet and army, and 
expressed their unhallowed confidence by singing pro- 
fane songs. Mr. Charles Wesley's hope was in the 
merciful providence of God; and his fear arose from 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY, 189 

an apprehension that the people of England might 
have filled up the measure of their iniquities, and ren- 
dered themselves ripe for the divine vengeance. Of 
the miseries of a people who are subjected to the inso- 
lence and plunder of a conquering army, he had a deep 
and just impression ; but in this case he was the most 
afraid of the loss of Protestant liberty, and of its reli- 
gious advantages. The testimony of history respect- 
ing the cruel intolerance of Popery had not been 
lost upon his intelligent and susceptible mind." 

In this crisis, as he had done on former occasions, 
he published "Hymns on the Expected Invasion, 
1759." To this source we are indebted for hymn 

627. Come, thou Conqueror of nations. 

These compositions are eight in number, one of 
which is here inserted : — 

Join all, whom God in Jesus spares, 
And mingle praises with your prayers 5 
Sing to the Lord a solemn song, 
Whose mercy respites us so long. 

Mercy alone deferr'd our doom, 
And would not let the judgment come : 
Thy mercy we with rev'rence praise, 
And wonder at thy patient grace. 

Saviour, thy unexhausted love 
Did still th' approaching woe remove, 
With famine, war, and earthquake, near, 
It rescued us from year to year. 

A bush unburn t amidst the flame, 
Jesus, we magnify thy name, 
Our strange deliv'ranccs admire, 
And give thee glory in tbe fire. 



190 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Preserved so oft, we cannot doubt 
Thy mighty arm shall bear us out, 
Our Baffling souls like gold refine, 
And whiten us in blood divine. 

And if the sword a few desl 
The rest shall tremble and rejoice, 
Repent, and know their sins forgiven, 
And glorify the God of heaven. 

There ties before the writer a copy of the eighth edi- 
tion of a volume of one hundred and thirty-two pages, 
exclusive of the index, entitled, " Hymns and Spikiti ai. 
Songs, intended fob the Use of Real Christians, of 
all Denominations." Published by John and Charles 
Wesley, in the year 17G1. 

Mr, John Wesley, who seems to have written all the 
prefaces to the works which had been published jointly 
by his brother and himself, in the preface to this volume 
regrets the u mischiefs " that had arisen from bigotry 
and an inordinate attachment to particular opinions or 
modes of worship. He notices the unspeakable advan- 
tages that attend, and the happiness that flows from, a 
truly catholic spirit, and rejoices to Bee the spirit of 
bigotry declining, and the spirit of love proportionably 
increasing. He then expresses a hope that the volume 
he w T as about to send forth might advance this glorious 
end. In relation to the hymns are the following cha- 
racteristic observations : — 

" There is not a hymn, not one verse inserted here, 
but what relates to the common salvation, and what 
every serious and unprejudiced Christian, of whatever 
denomination, may join in. It is true, none but those 
who either already experience the kingdom of God 
within them, or at least earnestly desire so to do, will 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 191 

either relish or understand them. But all these may- 
find herein either such prayers as speak the language 
of their souls when they are in heaviness; or such 
thanksgivings as express, in a low degree, what they 
feel, when rejoicing with joy unspeakable." 

This work is entirely a compilation, and is referred 
to by Mr. Wesley in the preface to his Large Hymn- 
book, as a collection which he had several years pre- 
viously "extracted from a variety of hymn-books;" 
that is, from the different works which he and his 
brother had before published. It was extensively used 
by Mr. Wesley's societies, and passed through many 
editions — the twenty-first in the year 1*777 — previous 
to the publication of the " Large Hymn-book " in 1780, 
after which it is not probable that it ever was reprinted. 

In the year IT 61 was published a small volume, en- 
titled, " Select Hymns for the Use of Christians of 
all Denominations ;" a copy of the fifth edition of 
which is before the writer. It has neither the com- 
piler's name nor a preface. The hymns are by different 
authors, principally by C. Wesley ; but the writer has 
not been able to ascertain how many, if any, of his 
hymns appeared originally in this volume. It appears 
to be entirely a compilation, principally from the works 
of the Wesleys. 

Mr. John Wesley this year published a work entitled 
" Select Hymns ; with Tunes annexed : designed 
chiefly for the Use of the People called Method- 
ists." The following extract from the preface will ex- 
plain its character : — 

" I want the people called Methodists to sing true the 
tunes which are in common use among them. At the 



192 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

same time, I want them to have in one volume the 
best hymns which we have printed ; and that in a 
small and portable volume, and one of an easy price. 
I have been endeavoring for more than twenty years to 
procure such a book as this, but in vain. Masters of 
music were above following any direction but their own. 
And I was determined, whoever compiled this, should 
follow my direction ; not mending our tunes, but setting 
them down neither better nor worse than they were. 
At length I have prevailed. The following collec- 
tion contains all the tunes which are in common use 
among us." 

The " people called Methodists " have not only al- 
ways been a singing community, but have endeavored 
to sing with the spirit and the understanding ; and this 
their learned and pious founder was convinced could be 
done only by singing correctly ; hence he early furnish- 
ed them with music books* containing the tunes in 
use among them, and insisted upon their use by his 
societies and congregations. But this is not all ; they 
must not only sing " true," but sing the " best hymns" 
the sublimity of sentiment harmonizing with the melody 
of music. In reference to this subject, Dr. Southey, 
who was not a friend of Methodism, remarks : " Aware 
of the great advantage to be derived from psalmody, 
and with an ear, as well as with an understanding, alive 
to its abuse, Wesley made it an essential part of the 
devotional service in his chapels ; and he triumphantly 

* The first work of the kind published by Mr. Wesley was 
entitled, <: A Collection of Tunes, set to Music, as they are sung 
at the Foundery, : ' 1752. "Foundery" was the name of the first 
Methodist " preaching-house 1 ' in London— it had been a cannon 
foundery. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 193 

contrasted the practice of his people, in this respect, 
with that of the churches." And he says that the 
" manner " in which the Methodists sung their songs, 
" tended to impress them strongly on the mind ; the 
tune was made wholly subservient to the words, not 
the words to the tune." 

It is to be feared that the character here given of 
Methodist singing has been, in this country at least, 
somewhat modified, by the introduction of choirs 
of irreligious persons into our " churches," and the 
use of popular hymns and tunes, to the frequent exclu- 
sion of our own Hymn-book, containing, as it does, the 
incomparable hymns of John and Charles "Wesley. 

During the year 1762 Mr. Charles Wesley favored 
the Christian church with two additional volumes of 
sacred poetry, entitled, "Short Hymns on Select 
Passages of the Holy Scriptures." Most of the 
hymns are concise, but some are of considerable length. 
In the first edition they are two thousand one hundred 
and forty-five in number, but in subsequent editions 
they are reduced to two thousand and thirty, and are 
founded upon particular texts, beginning with Genesis, 
and ending with the Revelation of St. John. Many of 
them display a singular ingenuity ; and nearly all breathe 
the same spirit of pure and fervent devotion which so 
strikingly marks his former compositions. And the 
entire work, says Mr. Jackson, is perhaps one of the 
best uninspired manuals for the Christian closet that 
was ever published in the English language. 

Many of the thoughts in these volumes, we are told 
in the preface, are borrowed from Mr. Henry's Com- 
ment, Dr. Gill on the Pentateuch, and Bengelius on 
9 



194 METHODIST HYMNOLOG?. 

the New Testament. ''Few persons," says his bio- 
grapher, " would think of going to the verbose Com- 
mentary of Matthew Henry for the elements of poetry ; 
but the genius of Charles Wesley, like the fabled phi- 
losopher's stone, could turn every tiling to gold." Not- 
withstanding this high eulogy, it seems some of the 
hymns on " Christian Perfection " and " Spiritual Dark- 
ness" contained sentiments not altogether in unison 
with those of his brother. The objectionable hymns 
and verses were omitted when the volumes were re- 
printed : they passed through many editions previous to 
the year 1794, since winch time the writer knows not 
if they have been republished. Some of the omitted 
poems and stanzas are very curious. Take one instance, 
founded upon Numbers xvi, 10, "And seek ye the 
priesthood also?" 

" Raised from the people's lowest lees, 
Guard, Lord, thy preaching witnesses; 
Nor let their pride the honor claim 
Of sealing cov'nauts in thy name : 
Bather than suffer them to dare 
Usurp the priestly character, 
Save from the arrogant offense, 
And snatch them, uncorrupted, hence." 

Mr. Charles Wesley's extreme sensitiveness in regard 
to the sanctity of the office of the Christian ministry, occa- 
sioned by his peculiar high-church principles, caused him 
frequently to express himself, both orally and in writing, 
in a manner opposed to the sentiments of his brother, as 
in the above stanza; and sometimes much to his an- 
noyance, as in the following, upon 1 Kings xii, 31, 
"Jeroboam made priests of the lowest of the peo- 
ple :" — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 195 

" But kings may spare their labor vain, 
For in such happy times as these 
The vulgar can themselves ordain, 
And priests commence, whoever please." 

Perhaps there could not be given a specimen that 
would convey, in a single stanza, a better idea of the 
excellent character of the work, than the following, 
founded on 2 Ghron. vi, 36, "There is no man which 
sinneth not :" — 

" No ; every fallen child of man 

Must sin in thought, and word, and deed ; 
But bursting our oppressor's chain, 

When Jesus hath his pris'ners freed 5 
The dire necessity is o'er, 
And, born of God, we sin no more." 

Or the following, on Genesis xi, 21, "And the Lord 

God took one of his ribs :" — 

" Not from his head was woman took, 
As made her husband to o'erlook, 
Not from his feet, as one design'd 
The footstool of the stronger kind ; 
But fashion'd for himself, a bride, 
An equal, taken from his side ; 
Her place intended to maintain, 
The mate, and glory of the man ; 
To rest, as still beneath his arm, 
Protected by her lord from harm ; 
And never from his heart removed, 
As only less than God beloved." 

Mr. C. Wesley, unlike his brother John, was very 
happily married, and in penning the above lines, doubt- 
less, merely gave a transcript of which himself and wife 
formed the original. 

The writer is tempted to give a beautiful poem found- 



196 METHODIST HTMNOLOGY. 

ed on Jacob's dream of the ladder, and yields to the 
temptation. If this poem were as well known as that 
other beautiful composition, "Wrestling Jacob," its 
counterpart, " Jacob's Ladder," would doubtless be al- 
most as much admired. Here it is : — 

What cloth the ladder mean, 

Sent down from the Most High ? 
Fasten'd to earth its foot is seen, 

Its summit to the sky. 
Lo ! up and down the scale 

The angels swiftly move, 
And God, the great Invisible, 

Himself appears above ! 

Jesus that ladder is, 

Th' incarnate Deity, 
Partaker of celestial bliss, 

And human misery ; 
Sent from his high abode, 

To sleeping mortals given, 
Hk stands, and man unites to God, 

And earth connects with heaven. 

Let Jacob's favor'd race 

The wondrous scale approve, 
Through which alone we have access 

To that bright throne above ; 
The foot on earth is fix'd, 

He in our nature dwells, 
Sinners and God He stands betwixt, 

And God to man reveals. 

The top our faith adores, 

The top transcends our sight, 
Above all earthly things it soars, 

And all created height ; 
His glorious majesty 

Our heavenly Lord maintains, 
As God he dwells above the sky, 

As God for ever reigns. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 197 

Pursue the mystery — 

The duteous angel train 
Ascending and descending see 

Upon the Son of man ! 
The ministerial host 

Their heavenly Lord attend ; 
And us who in his mercy trust, 

He hids his guard defend : 

Through Christ, our living way, 

Sent from above they come, 
Our spirits safely to convey 

To our eternal home ; 
They watch each glorious heir, 

And when from flesh released, 
Up to our Father's throne they hear, 

And lodge us in his breast. 

Redeemer of mankind, 

Who on thy name rely, 
A constant intercourse we find 

Open'd 'twixt earth and sky ; 
Mercy, and grace, and peace, 

Descend through thee alone, 
And thou dost all our services 

Present before the throne. 

On us thy Father's love 

Is for thy sake bestow'd ; 
Thou art our Advocate above, 

Thou art our way to God ; 
Our way to God we trace 

And through thy name forgiven, 
From step to step, from grace to grace, 

On thee we climb to heaven. 

Dr. Clarke, in his Commentary, makes frequent men- 
tion of Charles Wesley as a sacred poet, and has trans- 
ferred a considerable number of his poems and para- 
phrases into that most valuable work, to illustrate 



198 METHODIST HVMNOLOGV. 

certain passages of Holy Scripture. Several of these 
poems are from the volumes we are now noticing, one 
of which, with the doctor's accompanying remarks, is 
subjoined. It is founded upon the curse which Shimei 
pronounced against David, as related in the sixteenth 
chapter of the Second Book of Samuel : — 

" No soul of man can suppose that ever God bade 
one man to curse another, much less that he commanded 
such a wretch as Shimei to curse such a man as David ; 
but this is a peculiarity of the Hebrew language, which 
does not always distinguish between permission and 
commandment. Often the Scripture attributes to God 
what he only permits to be done : or what, in the 
course of his providence, he does not hinder. David, 
however, considers all this as being permitted of God 
for his chastisement and humiliation. I cannot with- 
hold from my readers a very elegant poetic paraphrase 
of this passage, from the pen of the Rev. Charles Wes- 
ley, one of the first of Christian poets : — 

" ' Pure from the blood of Saul in vain, 

He dares not to the charge reply : 
Uriah!* doth the charge maintain. 

Uriah's doth against him cry ! 
Let Shimei curse : the rod he bears, 

For sins which mercy had forgiven : 
And in the wrongs of man reveres 

The awful righteousness of Heaven. 

" ' Lord, I adore thy righteous will, 
Through every instrument of ill 

My Father's goodness see ; 
Accept the complicated wrong 
Of ShimePs hand and Shimeis tongue 

As kind rebukes from Thee.' " 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 199 

These volumes furnish upwards of seventy hymns to 
the Methodist Episcopal collection, the first lines of 
which are annexed : — 

290. A Fountain of life and of grace. 

159. A charge to keep I have. 
198. Adam descended from above. 

91. Ah, Lord, with trembling I confess. 

160. Be it my only wisdom here. 
211. Bless'd be our everlasting Lord. 
112. Come, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
421. Come let us use the grace divine. 
350. Come, my God, the promise seal. 
653. Coming through our great High Priest. 

363. Deepen the wounds thy hands have made. 
630. Eternal Lord of earth and skies. 

182. Expand thy wings, celestial Dove. 
598. Father, see this living clod. 
614. Father of earth and sky. 
100. Father, if thou must, reprove. 
330. Father, I dare believe. 
628. Father of boundless grace. 
484. Father of me and all mankind. 

180. Great God, to me the sight afford. 

364. Give me the enlarged desire. 
340. God of eternal truth and grace. 

346. He wills that I should holy be. 
209. Holy as thou, O Lord, is none. 
666. I call the world's Redeemer mine. 
538. I long to behold him array'd. 

181. I ask the gift of righteousness. 
533. Inspirer of the ancient seers. 
470. I the good fight have fought. 
462. Jesus, the word of mercy give. 
481. Jesus, from thy heavenly place. 

347. Jesus, thy loving Spirit alone. 

348. Jesus, my Lord, I cry to thee. 
147. Jesus, I fain would find. 

597. Jesus, the gift divine bestow. 



200 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

664. Jesus, was ever love like thine. 
372. Lord, in the strength of grace. 
371. Let not the wise their wisdom boast. 
235. My Saviour's pierced side. 
527. May I throughout this day of thine. 
218. My soul, through my Kedeemer's care. 
326. Now, e'en now, I yield, I yield. 
141. O Thou who earnest from above. 

604. O come, thou radiant Morning Star. 
53. O for that tenderness of heart. 

134. God, most merciful and true. 
132. O may thy powerful word. 
356. O come and dwell in me. 

605. O Lord, our God, we bless thee now. 
339. O Jesus, let thy dying cry. 

567. Pass a few swiftly fleeting years. 
351. Quicken'd with our immortal Head. 
566. Shrinking from the cold hand of death. 

94. Saviour, I now with shame confess. 
148. Saviour, on me the want bestow. 
258. Thy ceaseless, unexhausted love. 
349. Thou God that answerest by fire. 
247. Thou Shepherd of Israel and mine. 
184. Thou God unsearchable, unknown. 
302. The thing my God doth hate. 

48. Thou Man of griefs, remember me. 
543. The church in her militant state. 
599. The voice that speaks Jehovah near. 
238. The voice of my Beloved sounds. 
540. Thou, Lord, on whom I still depend. 
499. When quiet in my house I rest. 
425. Watch'd by the world's malignant eye. 
319. What, now, is my object and aim. 

135. Why not now, my God, my God ? 
338. What ! never speak one evil word. 
102. Yes, from this instant, now. I will. 

18. Ye thirsty for God, To Jesus give ear. 
525. Ye faithful souls, who Jesus know. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 201 

The following hymns, in the collection of the M. E. 
Church, South, are from the same source : — 

" A nation God delights to bless." 

" Almighty God of love." 

" By faith, I to the fountain fly." 

" Captain of Israel's host, and guide." 

" Father of everlasting grace." 

" Enter'd the holy place above." 

" If death my friend and me divide." 

" Jesus, let all thy lovers shine." 

" Let Jacob's favor'd race." 

" Lord, give me that pacific mind." 

" My days are extinguish'd and gone." 

" Messiah, full of grace." 

" thou faithful God of love." 

" that I could look to thee." 

" Pursue the mystery." 

" Redeemer of mankind." 

" Reserves of unexhausted grace." 

" Ready for my earthen bed." 

" Shall foolish, weak, short-sighted man." 

" The Man of sorrow now." 

" The merit of Jehovah's Son." 

" The men who slight thy faithful word." 

" The saints who die of Christ possess'd." 

" Thou art that Bread of life." 

" 'Tis finish'd ! the Mcssias dies." 

" Upright both in heart and will." 

" What doth the ladder mean ?" 

And the following, in the English Hymn-book : — 
" Branch of Jesse's stem, arise." 
" Christ, whose glory fills the skies." 
" God, who didst so dearly buy." 
" Happy day of union sweet." 
" Jesus, thou dear redeeming Lord." 



202 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Lord, I adore thy righteous will." 
" Lord, that I may learn of thee." 
" Messias, Prince of peace." 
" O God of peace, and pard'ning love." 
" Once Thou didst on earth appear." 
" Prince of universal peace." 
" Saviour, on me the grace bestow." 
" Too strong I was to conquer sin." 
" The people that in darkness lay." 
" The thirsty are call'd to their Lord." 
" Us who climb thy holy hill." 
" Who can worthily commend." 

Mr. Charles Wesley published a small volume of 
hymns in the year 1766, somewhat different from any 
of the numerous similar works which he and his brother, 
during eight and twenty years preceding, had, with 
such astonishing rapidity, sent forth into the w r orld. 
But if it was different from the rest, it was by no 
means of inferior importance to the Christian church. 
Although John and Charles Wesley published in their 
volume of " Hymns and Sacred Poems," as early as the 
year 1742, seven " Hymns for Children," and in their 
" Collection of Psalms and Hymns," issued from the 
press in 1748, fourteen hymns for the use of " Or- 
phan and Charity Children," yet, previous to this 
time, the brothers seem not to have turned their atten- 
tion seriously to the subject of supplying the youthful 
part of the community with hymns suited to their years 
and capacity. Indeed, it is probable they may have 
thought it an act of supererogation, as Dr. Watts's justly 
admired little work, entitled " Divine Songs for Chil- 
dren," was then in existence. But they were both too 
few in number — only twenty-eight — and not altogether 
in matter what the surpassing genius of C. Wesley was 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 203 

competent to produce, and his discriminating mind led 
him to wish to see in the hands of the thousands of 
" little immortals " who were now brought under the 
influence and guidance of the Methodist societies. Ac- 
cordingly, as above intimated, he this year published 
his " Hymns for Children and others of Riper 
Years." 

The fifth edition of this work, issued from the Wes- 
leyan Conference Office, in the year 1842, is before the 
writer. The short and sententious " Address to the 
Reader," which is evidently from the pen of Mr. J a 
Wesley, is of so remarkable a character, that it must 
be inserted in this place. He says, — 

" There are two ways of writing or speaking to chil- 
dren : the one is, to let ourselves down to them, the 
other, to lift them up to us. Dr. "Watts has wrote on 
the former way, and has succeeded admirably well, 
speaking to children as children, and leaving them as 
he found them. The following hymns are written on 
the other plan : they contain strong and manly sense ; 
yet expressed in such plain and easy language, as even 
children may understand. But when they do under- 
stand them, they will be children no longer, only in 
years and in stature." 

Of this small volume Mr. Jackson observes, it would 
" be difficult to mention any uninspired book, that, in 
the same compass, contains so much evangelical senti- 
ment. The hymns are full of instruction, and yet 
thoroughly devotional in their character. There is 
nothing puerile in them, either with respect to thought 
or expression ;" and " in the hands of a Christian 
mother, it would form a valuable help hi the task of 
education. The volume ought never to have been suf- 



204 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

fered to remain out of print." Two specimens of these 
long-neglected treasures are here subjoined, entitled, 

HYMNS FOR THE YOUNGEST. 
I. 

O happy state of infancy ! 
Strangers to gnilty fears, 

We live from sin and sorrow free, 
In these our tender years. 

Jesus, the Lord, our Shepherd is, 

And did our souls redeem ; 
Our present and eternal bliss 

Are both secured by him. 

His mercy every sinner claims, 

For all his flock he cares ; 
The sheep he gently leads, the lambs 

He in his bosom bears. 

Loving he is to all bis sons, 

Who hearken to his call ; 
But us, his weak, his little ones, 

He loves us best of all. 

If unto us our friends are good, 
*T\vas he their hearts inclined; 

He bids our fathers give us food, 
And makes our mothers kind. 

Then let us thank him for his grace, 

He -will not disapprove 
Our meanest sacrifice of praise, 

Our childish, prattling love. 

H. 

In vain are children taught to pray, 

Or praise a God unknown, 
Christ is the true and living way. 

And God and Christ are one. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 205 

Whene'er we think on God most high, 

Whene'er his praise proclaim, 
We think on him who stoop'd to die, 

We how to Jesus' name. 

My God, in Jesus reconciled, 

Declare thyself to me, 
If still an uncorrupted child, 

Yet still I know not thee. 

To make my sinful nature pure, 

Thy Spirit, Lord, impart, 
And me from actual sin secure, 

By dwelling in my heart. 

This delightful little volume contains one hundred 
and five hymns, in a great variety of metres ; only 
about twelve of which have been transferred to the col- 
lection of " Hymns for Sunday-schools," published by 
the Book Concern at New- York ; and several of them 
are deprived of some of their original stanzas. A some- 
what greater number, however, have been inserted in 
the larger collection intended for general use in our 
churches. They are as follow : — 

551. And am I born to die? 

577. And must I be to judgment brought? 

552. And am I only born to die 1 
518. Captain of our salvation, take. 
514. Come, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
208. Glorious God, accept a heart. 

206. Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
334. Loving Jesus ! gentle Lamb ! 
106. Maker, Saviour of mankind. 
217. all-creating God. 

551. Thou that would'st not have. (2d part.) 
23. Terrible thought, shall I alone. 
210. Thou, the great eternal God. 
589. Thou, my God, art good and wise. 



206 METHODIST HVMNOLOGY. 

672. Where shall true believers £0. 
286. Young men and maidens, raise. 

The following are the twelve transferred to the Sun- 
day-School Hymn-book : — 

" Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." 

" Teacher, Guide of young beginners." 3 ver. 

" God is goodness, wisdom, power.'' G " 

"Othat I, like Timothy." 

• link Child ofhearenlj birth." 6 " 

" Let children proclaim their Saviour ami King." 4 

'• o Father of all. The great and the .small." 

'• Gentle Jesus, meek and mild." 7 

" Come, let us join the hosts above." 6 " 

" Happy beyond description he." 

" Come, let us join with one accord." 

" Happy man whom God doth aid." 

The three hymns in the Wesleyan collection are from 
the same source, commencing, 

" But who sufficient is to lead." 

"Let all that breathe Jehovah- praiee." 

" Good thou art, and good thou dost." 

In the preface to a small volume of hymns published 
at New- York, in the year 1841, occurs the following 
sentence : " In the various and beautiful selections of 
devotional poetry which adorn our literature, there are 
but few hymns adapted to the comprehension of child rwj ; 
and this little work has been written with the view 
of supplying a volume suitable for youth." The very 
best hymns of this description in general use — except 
those by Charles Wesley, which seem to have found 
their way, almost accidentally, into some Sunday-school 
Hymn-books — are those by Dr. Watts, and they are 
less than thirty in number. Hence the propriety of the 
remarks above quoted. The writer is not ignorant of 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 207 

the merits of the hymns for children by Jane Taylor, 
Montgomery, and some others ; but excellent as they 
are in many respects, they neither preclude all cause 
of complaint, nor should be allowed to supplant among 
Methodists the inimitable compositions of their own 
peculiar poet. 

The question has often been suggested to the mind 
of the writer, why is it that the Christian world has 
shown so much more favor to the " Divine Songs " of 
Dr. Watts, than to the " Hymns for Children" of 
Charles Wesley ? Why is it that thousands, perhaps 
tens of thousands, of editions of Dr. Watts's hymns have 
been issued in this country, and hundreds of them from 
our own Methodist press, while not a single edition of 
Wesley's hymns have been published ? Is it because 
the former work is so far superior to the latter ? Such 
is by no means the case, as will fully appear upon an 
examination and comparison of the two works. The 
truth is, our own church has been shamefully unmind- 
ful of the merits and memory of her poet, perhaps 
because unconscious of the rich legacy bequeathed to 
her, and, it may be, her incompetency properly to ap- 
preciate the literary treasure. But the stigma should 
remain no longer. A brighter intellectual day is dawn- 
ing upon the church, and her membership may now at 
least begin to appreciate the sublime productions of a 
sanctified genius, who anticipated by three quarters of 
a century the intellectual wants of the Christian world ; 
and thereby furnished beforehand what is now ac- 
knowledged to be a desideratum in religious literature. 
Let the church, then, meet the emergency promptly, 
by publishing forthwith an edition of Charles Wesley's 
"Hymns for Children:" a more valuable boon could 



208 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

not be conferred upon the " children," while " others 
of riper years " would also share in the precious patri- 
mony. And let there not be one edition only, but 
several, in different styles, adorned with all the attract- 
iveness of tasteful external appearance, beautiful picto- 
rial embellishments, and, if necessary, " illustrated with 
anecdotes and reflections." In tins respect the writer 
is anxious to see the poet of Methodism placed upon an 
equality with Dr. Watts ; and as the Presbyterian Board 
of Publication, and the American Sunday-School Union, 
have taken the doctor's " Divine Songs " under their 
special patronage, and decked them out in all the com- 
bined attractiveness of typographical, artistical, and 
literary skill, so, likewise, let the Methodist Church 
do unto Charles Wesley's " Hymns for Children ;" 
and then scatter them " as the dew of Hermon " over 
the fields of the church, and great will be " the blessing, 
even life for evermore." 

Mr. Charles Wesley, whose genius seemed inex- 
haustible, having furnished the " children" of the Wes- 
leyan societies with suitable strains in which to offer to 
God, through Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of praise and 
thanksgiving in the melodious outpouring of grateful 
hearts, the following year, 1767, published another 
volume, which, although unique in its character, was 
not of less importance and utility than the former, es- 
pecially to " those of riper years." This volume he 
entitled " Hymns for the Use of Families, and on 
Various Occasions." The author's learned biogra- 
pher thus speaks in relation to this remarkable work : 
* It consists, to a great extent, of hymns which he had 
written under circumstances of peculiar excitement, 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 209 

affecting him as a husband, a father, and the head of a 
family. Others of them were composed for the use of 
his pious friends in seasons of especial anxiety, sorrow, 
and joy. It is not probable that one of them was writ- 
ten with reference to an imaginary case, which might 
possibly occur. They are all the genuine effusions of 
the heart; a heart eminently tender, sympathetic, 
generous, and deeply imbued with Christian feeling. 
The hymns relate to domestic mercies and domestic 
affliction, in all their varieties of form ; including mar- 
riage, the birth of children, baptism, sickness, recovery, 
bereavements, the case of unconverted and persecuted 
relations, retirement into the country, and removing to a 
new habitation. Notwithstanding the nature of these 
subjects, not one of the hymns contains a stanza that is 
either trite or mean." 

This volume was republished in London, in the year 
1825, when its appearance was thus announced in the 
Wesleyan Methodist Magazine : " It is with feelings of 
lively gratification that we call the attention of our 
readers to this important manual. It contains one 
hundred and sixty-eight hymns, in which all the feel- 
ings of devout Christians, under the diversified occur- 
rences of domestic life, are expressed in language of 
uncommon force and elegance. It is a singular cir- 
cumstance, that a work of such value should have re- 
mained out of print for the long space of half a cen- 
tury, until scarcely any of the present race of Method- 
ists ever knew of its existence." 

The late venerable and intelligent Henry Moore, the 
biographer of Mr. J. Wesley, gave the palm to C. Wes- 
ley's Family Hymn-book ; and Mr. Jackson remarks, in 
reference to the same work, that no person of pure 



210 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

mind can read this volume without loving its author. 
The work is before us. It comprises 180 pages, but 
has no preface. Some of the titles prefixed to the 
hymns are as follow : — For a Woman in Travail — 
Thanksgiving for her Safe Delivery — At the Baptism of 
a Child — At sending a Child to Boarding-school — 
Thanksgiving after a Recovery from the Small-pox — Ob- 
lation of a Sick Friend — Prayers for a Sick Child — A Fa- 
ther's Prayer for his Son — The Collier's Hymn — For a 
Persecuting Husband — For an Unconverted Wife — For 
Unconverted Relations — For a Family in Want — To be 
sung at the Tea-table — For one retired into the Country 
— A Wedding Song. Besides these, there are hymns 
for the morning and evening ; before going to work, 
for sleep, and for the sabbath ; for different states of 
mind, as, in uncertainty, in affliction, and under be- 
reavement ; for parents and children, masters and ser- 
vants, young men and maidens ; and on various other 
matters relating to the connections of a family. The 
following nineteen hymns are from this source : — 

21. Thou Son of God, whose flaming eyes. 

32. With glorious clouds encompass'd round. 

42. that I could my Lord receive. 

64. Let the redeem'd give thanks and praise. 

511. God, only wise, almighty, good. 

512. Father of lights, thy needful aid. 

513. How shall I walk, my God to please. 
519. The power to bless my house. 

183. Thou who hast our sorrows borne. 
423. Except the Lord conduct the plan. 

450. Come wisdom, power, and grace divine 

451. O Saviour, cast a gracious smile. 
453. Holy Lamb, who thee confess. 
674. God of eternal truth and love. 
517. Father of all, by whom we are. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 211 

515. Master supreme, I look to thee. 

516. I and my house will serve the Lord. 

412. Come away to the skies, My Beloved arise. 
395. Cast on the fidelity Of my redeeming Lord. 

Also the two hymns in the Hymn-book of the M. E. 
Church, South, commencing, 

" Jesus, the Lord most high." 

" With a believing master bless'd ." 

And the following in the Wesley an collection : — 

"Meet and right it is to praise." 

" How good and pleasant 'tis to see " 

" Father of omnipresent grace." 

" Come, thou all-inspiring Spirit." 

" O that I first of love possessed." 

" How happy are we, Who in Jesus agree." 

It has already been mentioned that Mr. Charles 
Wesley published a tract of hymns and doxologies to 
the Holy Trinity. This year, 1767, he issued a volume 
entitled " Hymns on the Trinity," containing one hun- 
dred and eighty hymns, in which the doctrine of the 
Trinity is exhibited in its full bearing. The greater 
part of them are founded upon particular passages of 
Holy Scripture ; and the whole arranged under five 
distinct heads : — Hymns on the Divinity of Christ ; on 
the Divinity of the Holy Ghost ; on the Plurality and 
Trinity of Persons in the Godhead ; on the Trinity in 
Unity ; Hymns and Prayers to the Trinity. 

Mr. Jackson remarks in reference to this work : 
" There is not in the English language a volume that, 
in so small a compass, shows more clearly the Scrip- 
tural doctrine of the Trinity, with its practical im- 
portance ; and it has this peculiar advantage, that it 



212 METHODIST IIYMNOLOGV. 

proposes the subject, not as a matter of controversy, 
but of faith and adoration, of prayer, thanksgiving, and 
praise." 

There lies before the writer a highly prized auto- 
graph copy of this precious little manual, in almost as 
perfect a state as when the beloved author, more tlmn 
eighty years ago, perhaps at the earnest solicitation of 
some dear friend, traced with his own hand the few 
words which now add such additional interest to the 
volume, which is still more increased by the fact that 
it was published anonymously. The inscription is, 
" C. Wesley, April l\, 1767." The volume has one 
hundred and thirty-two pages, is without a preface, and 
contributes the following nine hymns to the contents 
of the Methodist Episcopal Hymn-book : — 

213. Holy, holy, holy Lord. 

144. Jehovah, God the Father, hless. 

296. The wisdom own'd by all thy sons. 

690. Hail, co-essential Three. 

215. A thousand oracles divine. 

284. The day of Christ, the day of God. 
536. Spirit of truth, essential God. 

216. Come, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

214. Hail, holy, holy, holy Lord ! 

Five more to the collection used by the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South : — 

" God, the offended God, most high." 

" Baptized into thy name." 

" God of all consolation." 

" Praise to the glorious cause of all." 

" Shout to the great Jehovah's praise." 

And the hymn in the English Wesleyan collection, 
commencing, 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 213 

" Hail ! Father, Son, and Spirit great, 
Before the birth of time 
Enthroned in everlasting state, 
Jehovah, Elohim !" 

The last hymn in the volume is a sublime and im- 
pressive prayer for the overthrow of the Mohammedan 
delusion, and the commencement of the millennial 
reign of Christ; the last two stanzas of which are 
subjoined : — 

" That wand'ring star, who blazed and fell, 

And poison'd many a crystal stream, 
That bitter, first-born child of hell, 

No more permit him to blaspheme ; 
Root out thine Unitarian foe, 

Nor longer let his place be found ; 
The crescent by the cross o'erthrow, 

And loose the world in darkness bound. 

" It must be so ; the day is near, 

The far-spent night will quickly end, 
And every eye discern Thee here, 

And saints perceive their King descend ; 
When all are put beneath thy feet, 

And death, the latest foe, is slain, 
Then I shall mount thine azure seat, 

Then I shall in thy presence reign." 

The poet of Methodism, in the year 111 2, published 
a small volume entitled " Preparation for Death, in- 
Several Hymns." They are forty in number, and are, 
says Mr. Jackson, " indeed appropriate to the occasion 
on which they were written ; expressing deep humili- 
ation and shame before the Lord, at the remembrance 
of past unfaithfulness, with an absolute reliance upon 
the sacrifice of Christ, for present pardon, for perfect 
holiness, and for final acceptance with God." 



214 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

The death of Mr. Whitefield, which took place more 
than two years before, appears to have been the occa- 
sion of these pious compositions. Mr. Wesley's health 
being at the same time much impaired, caused the 
subject of his own dissolution to bear with peculiar 
weight upon his mind ; hence the sentiments expressed 
in the hymns may be considered as nothing more than 
the embodiment of the deep religious feelings of his own 
heart. " A more pious manual," says his biographer, 
" was never sent forth from the press." 

This year, 1780, is celebrated in the annals of Eng- 
land, on account of the awful mob-riots which took 
place in London, resulting from the imprudent project 
of Lord George Gordon, of anti-popish notoriety. The 
following lines, from a satirical poem -written during 
those exciting scenes, by C. Wesley, in winch the cow- 
ardly fears of the London magistrates, as well as the 
malice of the mob, are severely Lashed, refer to the 
conduct of Mr. J.Wesley and his followers on that trying 
occasion, who were falsely . and maliciously charged 
with aiding the rioters. The mob is made to exclaim, — 

" Old Wesley, too, to Papists kind, 
Who wrote against them for a blind, 
Himself a Papist still in heart, 
He and his followers shall smart. 
Not one of his fraternity 
We here beneath our standard see." 

These insane movements were made the occasion by 
C. Wesley, who was ever ready to seize upon any cir- 
cumstances by which he could either promote civil 
order or produce religious reformation, for publishing 
a pamphlet entitled, " Hymns written in the Time of 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 215 

the Tumults, June, 1780." The pious author, says 
Mr. Jackson, in these hymns feelingly contemplated the 
fate of the innocent sufferers ; commended the perse- 
cuted Romanists to the merciful protection of God; 
prayed for the king and royal family; for the sup- 
pression of anarchy, and the revival of law ; and that 
the guilty contrivers of evil might be brought to jus- 
tice. Two specimens of this remarkable tract are 
subjoined : — 

" Thou most compassionate High Priest, 
In answer to our joint request, 

United to thy own, 
With pity's softest eye behold 
The sheep which are not of this fold, 

The church in Babylon. 

" As sheep appointed to be slain, 
By cruel, persecuting men, 

By fierce fanatic zeal ; 
By Christian wolves, reform'd in name, 
Whose dire atrocious deeds proclaim 
The synagogue of hell. 

" The help to the distress'd afford, 
The men that tremble at thy word, 

The quiet of the land ; 
The worshipers, if blind, sincere, 
Who honor thy vicegerent* here, 

And bless his mild command." 

The following stanzas are from a hymn written on 
the memorable 8th of June : — 

" See where the impetuous waster comes, 
Like Legion rushing through the tombs ; 
Like stormy seas, that toss and roar, 
And foam, and lash the trembling shore ! 

* The king. 



216 METHODIST IIYMN0L0GY. 

' : ' Ilavock !' th' infernal leader cries ; 
' Havock !' th' associate host replies ; 
The rabble shouts, the torrent pours, 
The city sinks, the flame devours. 

" Our arm of flesh entirely fails, 
The many-headed beast prevails ; 
Conspiracy the state o'erturns, 
Gallia exults, and London burns ! 

" Arm of the Lord, awake, put on 
Thy strength, and cast Apollyon down ; 
Jesus, against the murd'rers rise, 
And blast them with thy flaming eyes." 

We have now arrived at the year in which Mr. John 
Wesley published his large Hymn-book, for general use 
among his societies in England and throughout the 
world ; but, as he and his brother afterward issued 
several more tracts and volumes of hymns, further no- 
tice of the large work will be deferred until the others 
have been noticed. 

During the year 1782 was issued from Mr. Wesley's 
press a tract of forty -seven pages, in two parts, enti- 
tled, " Hymns for the Nation." This work is not men- 
tioned in the Life of Charles Wesley, but its contents 
were doubtless the production of his pen, having par- 
ticular reference to the condition of the country at the 
time, England then being at war with her " rebellious" 
transatlantic colonies. One hymn only from this tract, 
entitled, " On the American War," has been inserted in 
the English and American Hymn-books. It is hymn 
634 — 

" Saviour, whom our hearts adore, 
To bless our earth again, 
Now assume thy royal power, 
And o'er the nations reign." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 21 Y 

The Oxford Methodists, or " Holy Club," as the first 
little society was in derision called, from the commence- 
ment of their religions course, complied with singular 
assiduity with the Scriptural injunction which makes it 
the duty of Christ's followers to administer of their 
ability both to the temporal and spiritual wants of the 
poor and unfortunate portion of mankind, by visiting 
them at their humble dwellings, in work-houses, and in 
prisons ;* and for the spiritual welfare of condemned 
felons, especially, Mr. C. Wesley had always manifested 
the utmost solicitude. " His tender heart," says his 
biographer, "yearned over this class of transgressors. 
He visited them in their cells ; wept with them because 
of their guilt and misery ; taught them the way to the 
mercy-seat of God, through the death of his Son ; 
prayed with them ; brought their case before his con- 
gregations, and urged his friends to invoke the divine 
pity upon them." 

The last work that he ever sent from the press, had 
respect to a large number of culprits, who suffered the 
same year it was published. It was a tract of twelve 
pages, entitled, "Prayers for Condemned Malefac- 
tors," consisting of hymns suitable to their state, 
" breathing the spirit of fear and contrition, and distinctly 
recognizing the evangelical doctrine of free and present 
salvation from sin, to be obtained by faith in the sacrifi- 
cial death of Christ." In these labors of love he was 
signally owned of God. In a manuscript note, append- 

* Mr. Morgan was the honored pioneer into these dark abodes : 
had he lived, he would have probably rivaled even the Wesley s 
in spreading Scriptural holiness over Great Britain. He died 
very young, in 1732. Mr. Samuel Wesley wrote a beautiful 
poem on his death. 

10 



218 METHODIST IIYMNOLOGY. 

ed to one of these hymns, Mr. Wesley says : " These 
prayers were answered Thursday, April 28th, 1 78 5, on 
nineteen malefactors, who all died penitent." 

In the year 1*785, J. Wesley published a volume en- 
titled, " A Pocket Hymn-book, for the Use of Chris- 
tians of all Denominations." The following is Mr. 
Wesley's address to the reader : — 

" In the Hymn-book which I published about four 
years since, although it was larger than I at first in- 
tended, there was no room for very many of our hymns 
which were no way inferior to those contained therein. 
A collection of these, as I found many desired it, I 
have now published in a smaller volume, including a 
very few of those which were published in the other. 
Several of these I omitted before, because I was afraid 
they would not be understood by a common congrega- 
tion. But if some do not understand them, I make no 
doubt but many others will, and, I trust, profit thereby : 
and the deeper the meaning i.s, the more it will profit 
those that do understand them." 

Two years after the appearance of the volume of 
hymns just noticed, Mr. Wesley published another, 
bearing the same title. The occasion of sending forth 
the present collection is detailed in the preface ; from 
which it appears, that the conduct of the booksellers in 
Mr. Wesley's time was similar to that manifested now- 
adays by some of the same class of money-makers. 
Mr. Wesley had been for many years supplying his 
numerous followers with works of various kinds besides 
Hymn-books from his own press ; and when it is recol- 
lected how very extensive the sales must have been, it 
is not at all surprising that the depravity of human 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 219 

nature should exhibit itself in an attempt by one of the 
fraternity to supplant Mr. Wesley's publications by 
surreptitious editions of his most saleable works — and 
none were more so than his Hymn-books.* 

" A few years ago," says Mr. Wesley, " I was desired 
by many of our preachers to prepare and publish a 
small Hymn-book, to be used in common in our socie- 
ties. This I promised to do as soon as I had finished 
some other business which was then on my hands. But 
before I could do this, a bookseller stepped in, and, 
without my consent or knowledge, extracted such a 
book, chiefly from our works, and spread several editions 
of it throughout the kingdom." Consequently, when 
Mr. Wesley's book made its appearance, most of his 
people were already supplied with the other book. But 
to cut off all pretense from the Methodists for buying 
the spurious work, the conference advised Mr. Wesley 
to republish it himself. He did so ; but with the altera- 
tions and improvements which appear in the volume 
now under consideration, some of which are thus an- 
nounced : — 

" Out of those two hundred and thirty-two hymns," 
he remarks, " I have omitted seven and thirty. These 
I did not dare to palm upon the world, because 
fourteen of them appeared to me very flat and dull ; 
fourteen more mere prose, tagged with rhyme ; and nine 

* The comparatively insignificant commencement of Mr. 
Wesley's publishing operations are related by himself, thus : — 
" Two and forty years ago," says he, " having a desire to furnish 
poor people with cheaper, shorter, and plainer books, than I had 
ever seen, I wrote many small tracts, generally a penny a piece ; 
and afterward several larger. Some of these had such a sale 
as I never thought of; and, by this means, I unawares became 
rich /" But he did not remain so — he gave all away. 



220 METHODIST HYMN0L0GY. 

more, to be grevious doggerel. But a friend tells me, 
1 Some of these, especially the two that are doggerel 
double distilled, namely, 

" The despised Nazarcne," 
and that which begins, 

" A Christ I have. what a Chris! have I." 
are hugely admired, and continually echoed from Ber- 
wick-upon-Tweed to London.' If they arc, 1 am BORJ 
for it ; it will bring a deep reproach upon the judgment 
of the Methodists. Bui 1 dare not increase tli.it re- 
proach by countenancing, in any degree, such an insult 
both on religion and common sense : and I earnestly 
entreat all our preachers not only never to give them 
out, but to discountenance them by all prudent means, 
both in public and pri\ 

There lies before us an old English Hymn-book, in 
which is fond the former of the above-mentioned objec- 
tionable hymns; and, as it will doubtless gratify the 
interested reader to see a specimen of that class of 
hymns denominated by Mr. Wesley, " doggerel double 
distilled," 1 will introduce it here. Its introduction 
may not only prove a gratification, but also a useful 
warning and reproof to all who may be disposed to 
prefer such hymns to the truly excellent compositions 
of our own Hymn-book. It is as follows : — 

The despised Nazarexe. 
Who is chief in my esteem ; 
Mark'd with scourges, nails, and spear. 
Hung an ensign in the air ! 
None among the sons of men. 
None among the heavenly train. 
Can with my Beloved compare. 
Who to me is ever dear. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 221 

Had I a Gabriel's heavenly tongue, 
Jesus' love should be my song ; 
Author of my present peace, 
Fountain of eternal bliss, 
Happy, now, beyond degree, 
While I feel he died for me ! 
When his richest grace I prove, 
All my soul dissolves in love. 

Other lovers I despise, 
Only Jesus' love I prize : 
Earthly things are far too mean 
To withdraw my soul from him ; 
How, my Lord, shall I set forth 
All thy dignity and worth ? 
Human words cannot express 
Half thy love, or half thy praise. 

From thy fullness me supply, 
All my nature sanctify ; 
Let me all thy goodness prove, 
All the saving power of love ; 
My whole soul with love inflame 
While I sing my Saviour's name ; 
Who from sin hath set me free, 
In the gospel liberty. 

In reference to the surreptitious book, which was, it 
seems, published by a " Methodist bookseller !" Mr. 
Wesley states, that nearly the whole of it was taken 
from his and his brother's publications, only a few 
"shreds" being taken "out of other books for form's 
sake." 

There can be but little doubt that the strong and 
unequivocal disapprobation expressed by Mr. Wesley in 
his preface against the introduction of " prose taggedi 
with rhyme" compositions into the books used by his 
societies ; and the promptness with which he expelled the 



222 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

"grievous doggerel," and severely rebuked the shame- 
ful conduct of the publisher who sought t<> palm the 
objectional book upon the people ; have been tin- cause 
of preserving that high degree of excellence which 
has always, by competent judges, been awarded to 
the standard Methodist Hymn-book. Although the 
"Pocket Hymn-book" was highly spoken of by Mr. 
Wesley, it was not his favorite, as we may learn from 
the following remarks: "I am bold," says be, " to re- 
commend this small Hymn-book, as the beat of the 
size that has ever been published among the Methodists. 
But it is still greatly inferior to the large Hymn-book." 

From the numerous volumes and tracts of hymns 
which he and his brother had previously published, Mr. 
John Wesley compiled his large Hymn-book, entitled, 
"A Collection of Hymns for the I'm: ofthi Pxopli 
called Methodists," which was published, by sub- 
scription,* in the year 1780. It is a duodecimo 
volume of five hundred and four pages, exclusive of the 
index, and contained five hundred and twenty-five 
hymns. 

The preface to this work is a strikingly charac- 
teristic production. During the last forty years, he 
and his brother had sent forth an extraordinary 
number of Hymn-books ; " so that it maybe doubted," 
says Mr. Wesley, " whether any religious community 
in the world has a greater variety of them." But this 
" immense variety" furnished the very occasion for com- 

* " One thing more I desire, that you would read the proposals 
for the general Hymn-book in every society, and procure as many 
subscribers as you cam' — Letter from Mr. W. to Rev. John Mason, 
Nov., 1779. Works, vol. vii, p. 97. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 223 

piling the present work : " the greater part of the peo- 
ple being poor, are not able to purchase so many 
books ;" hence the necessity of a "proper collection of 
hymns for general use, carefully made out of all these 
books" 

In reference to the character of the poetry, Mr. 
Wesley remarks : "In these hymns there is no dog- 
gerel, no botches, nothing put in to patch up the 
rhyme, no feeble expletives — nothing turgid or bom- 
bastic on the one hand, or low and creeping on the 
other — no cant expressions, no words without meaning. 
Here are, allow me to say, both the purity, the strength, 
and the elegance, of the English language, and, at the 
same time, the utmost simplicity and plainness, suited 
to every capacity." 

But " that which is of infinitely more moment than 
the spirit of poetry, is the spirit of piety." And " as 
but a small part of these hymns," says Mr. Wesley, " is 
of my own composing, I do not think it inconsistent 
with modesty to declare, that I am persuaded no such 
Hymn-book as this has yet been published in the En- 
glish language. In what other publication of the kind 
have you so distinct and full an account of Scriptural 
Christianity? such a declaration of the heights and 
depths of religion, speculative and practical ? so strong 
cautions against the most plausible errors ; particularly 
those that are now most prevalent ? and so clear direc- 
tions for making our calling and election sure ; for per- 
fecting holiness in the fear of God ?" 

Soon after Mr. Wesley's death, the volume under- 
went some alteration. Eleven hymns were omitted, and 
others substituted in their places ; six were divided, and 
each of them counted as two hymns ; twenty-one were 



224 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

inserted in the body, and the same number of " addition- 
al hymns " at the end of the volume. And in the year 
1830, another addition, by way of a "Supplement," 
containing two hundred and one hymns, was appended 
to the collection ; the whole forming the Hymn-book 
now in general use among Wesleyan Methodists through- 
out the world. From this " collection" the hymns in the 
Methodist Episcopal Hymn-book were "principally" 
derived, as stated in the title-page of that work. 
The omitted hymns commence thus : — 

" Ah ! foolish world, forbear." 

•• Friend of sinners, in thy heart." 

" Jesu, as taught by thee. I praj." 

" Jesu, my Lord, my God." 

c; Jesus, thou art the mighty God." 

" Thou, of whom I oft have heard." 

" O Lord our God, we bless thee now." 

" Saviour, if thy precious love." 

" The wisdom, own'd by all thy sons." 

" Thee, Father, Son. and Holy Ghost." 

" When my relief will most display." 

In reference to the alteration mentioned, Mr. BurgeM 

says : " On comparing the hymns omitted with those 
substituted for them, most persons will probably agree 
that the alteration has been very much for the better. 
The hymns omitted, though by no means destitute of 
poetical merit, and superior, indeed, to many that have 
appeared in modern compilations, are generally below 
the standard of Wesleyan compositions ; none of them 
certainly of any particular excellence. Whereas, 
among the hymns substituted are several of very supe- 
rior value ; some as fine evangelical paraphrases of Scrip- 
ture passages; some as being admirably adapted for 
public worship ; and some as being beautifully descrip- 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 225 

tive of inward and experimental religion. Most of these 
twenty-one hymns, indeed, are in all respects so excel- 
lent, that the wonder is, how Mr. Wesley came to over- 
look them, when preparing his standard collection for' 
general use." 

The " Supplement" was " compiled chiefly from the 
festival and other hymns which Mr. Charles Wesley 
published in separate pamphlets, and from his unpub- 
lished poetry, which, by purchase from his heir, along 
with other papers, has lately become the property of 
the connection. To these some hymns have been 
added from other authors, chiefly from Dr. Watts ; and 
a few which, though they sink below the rank of Wes- 
leyan poetry, are inserted because of some excellence 
which will be found in the sentiment, and the greater 
choice of subjects which they afford. Most of the 
hymns, however, were inserted in the Morning Hymn- 
book, prepared by Mr. Wesley for the London congre- 
gations, or in a smaller collection published by him; 
and so had his sanction. A few others have been in- 
troduced because of their popular character, and their 
being favorites with many of our people." — Advertise- 
ment to the Su2^plement. 

The following remarks in reference to the " Supple- 
ment " are from the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine : — 
" The late Dr. Coke incorporated with the Hymn-book, 
published by Mr. Wesley, a considerable number of 
hymns adapted to mixed congregations, and to occa- 
sional services, for the use of the Irish Connection; 
and the same has been done by the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church in America. That the English Conference 
have so long forborne to follow these examples, is a 
proof of their unwillingness to innovate upon the estab- 
10* 



226 METHODIST IIYMXOLOGY. 

lished usages of the connection ; and the manner in 
which the deficiency that has been so long felt, is now 
supplied, is a striking proof of the paternal character 
of that body. The additional hymns are aol mixed up 
-with the others, bo as to render the hooks in use of no 
value, as was done botli in Inland and America,* but 
are published in a small separate volume, and may be 

attached to the Hymn-book without inconvenience." 

The " Supplement " has nol only been bound up with 
every subsequent edition of the Hymn-book, but there 
has been prepared, in addition to the " Index to the 
Hymns," a copious "Index to the Subjects" of tin- 
whole book, and also an " Index to the Verses" so 
that any hymn b the collection may be found with fa- 
cility, if the first line of any verse be known, by a re- 
ference to this Index. These are aids of incalculable 
value to a student of the Hymn-hook. 

There is a peculiarity appertaining to some editions 
of the large Hymn-book, which will be explained by 
the following extract from the Minutes of the English 
Conference for 1799 : — 

" Q. What direction shall be given in respect to the 
printing of our books ? 

"A. 1. Dr. Coke, brother Story, brother Moore, 
and brother Clarke, are appointed to reduce the large 
Hymn-book to its primitive simplicity, as published in 
the second edition ; with liberty to add a word now 
and then, in the way of note, to explain a difficult pas- 

* The ' ; Supplement " t ) the American Hymn-hook was add- 
ed in 1836, taken principally from that appended to the Eng- 
lish collection ; hence the ahove remark?, which were written in 
1831, refer to the American Hymn-book precious to the addi- 
tion of the Supplement. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 22*7 

sage, for the sake of the unlearned: and a discre- 
tionary power is given them, in respect to the addi- 
tional hymns." 

An old copy of the Hymn-book, containing the 
notes, is before the writer ; a few specimens of which 
will be given at the bottom of the page, as in the 
Hymn-book. 

In the third verse of the hymn commencing, 
" Jesus, my Advocate above," 
is this line — 

" A deeper displacence * at sin." 

The italicised word is explained in the note below, as 
are also the italicised words which occur in the follow- 
ing extracts. 

In the fifth verse of the hymn beginning, " I want 
the spirit of power within " — 

" Where the indubitable f seal, 
That ascertains the kingdom mine ?" 

In the third verse of the hymn commencing, " Jesus, 
the Conqu'rer, reigns " — 

" Fight the good fight of faith with me, 
My fellow-soldiers, fight ; 
In mighty phalanx \ join'd, 
To battle all proceed." 

In the seventh verse of the hymn beginning, " God 
of unspotted purity " — 

* c: Displacence ; disgust, aversion, abhorrence." 

f " Indubitable, so certain or evident, as to admit of no doubt 

or suspicion of its truth." 
% " Phalanx, a battalion of infantry set close to each other, 

with their shields joined." 



228 METHODIST Ill'MXOLOGl*. 

" Thou rather wouldst that we were cold, 
Than seem to serve thee without zeal ; 
Less guilty, if, with those of old, 

They worship' d Thor and Woden* still." 

The hymn from which this verse is taken, is not in 
the Methodist Episcopal Hymn-book, but is retained in 
the English collection without the note, which we sup- 
pose must be essential to many, even at this day, for 
the proper understanding of the terms Thor and 
Woden. 

The last example that will bo noticed, occurs in the 
fifth verse of the hymn commencing, " How weak the 
thoughts, and vain " — 

(< Those amaranthine* bowers. 

Unalienably ours, 
Bloom, our infinite reward ; 

Rise, our permanent abode; 
From the founded world prepared ; 

Purehased by the Word of God." 

The note to this verse is rather of too classic a nature 
for the comprehension of a mind so illiterate as not to 
understand the word amaranthine, containing, as it 
does, a reference to the sublime poem, Paradise Lost. 
The beautiful passage in Milton, referred to, is as 
follows : — 

" Immortal amaranth, a flower which once 
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, 
Began to bloom ; but soon for man's offense 
To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows, 
And flowers, aloft, shading the fount of life, 
And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven 
Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream." 

* <; Thor and Woden, idols worshiped by our Saxon ancestors." 
t " Amaranthine, i. e. everlasting: ever-blooming; not subject 
to decay. — See Milton s Paradise Lost, book iii, line 352." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 229 

The hymns in the Wesleyan Hymn-book and Sup- 
plement, when classified according to their respective 
authors, will stand thus — 

Dr. Watts 66 

Dr. Doddridge 10 

Dryden 1 

Addison - 3 

Bishop Kenn 2 

Tate and Brady 2 

Bev. James Merrick 1 

Dr. Henry More 2 

Cowper 2 

Rev. Augustus M. Toplady 1 

Rev. Joseph Hart 1 

Rev. Joseph Stennett 1 

Rev. Thomas Olivers 3 

Miss Anne Steele 3 

Rev. Benjamin Rhodes 2 

Rev. John Bakewell 1 

Mrs. Agnes Buhner 1 

Rev. William M. Bunting 1 

Rev. Samuel Wesley, Sen 1 

Rev. Samuel Wesley, Jun 6 

Rev. John Wesley 32 

Rev. Charles Wesley 627 

Authors unknown 1 

770 

Thus it appears, that to Charles Wesley, the Wes- 
leyan Methodists, under God, are indebted for about 
62*7 out of 770 hymns, which constitute the collection 
now in use among them. The proportion of hymns 
by C. Wesley in the Methodist Episcopal Hymn-book 
is not quite so large. 



230 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 



PART III. 

WHEREIN ARE NOTICED IN CONSECUTIVE ORDER THE IIYM\> 
IN THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL IIYMN-IH M >K. WITH REMARKS 
CRITICAL, HISTORICAL, EXPLANATORY, Ac. 

IIv.mn 1. " for a thousand tongues to sing."' — C. Wesley. 

Tins hymn was first published in 1730, and was pro- 
bably composed jusl one year after the conversion of 
John and Charles Wesley. It is entitled, " Far the 
Anniversary of One's ConTersion." It originally com- 
prised eighteen verses, that which constitutes the first 
in the Hymn-book being the seventh. The following 
are the four opening stanzas : — 

" Glory to God, and praise, and love, 
Be ever, ever given, 
By saints below, and Mints above, 

The church in earth and 1 

" On this glad day the glorious Sun 
Of rigfateousi 
On my benighted soul he shone, 
And till'd it with repose. 

" Sudden expired the legal strife ; 

Twas then I ceased to grieve ; 
My second, real, living life, 
I then began to live. 

l; Then with my heart I first believed, 
Believed with faith divine, 
Power with the Holy Ghost received 
To call the Saviour mine/' 

Of the remaining omitted verses, the subjoined two, 
15 and 16, are very remarkable : from them, it will 
appear, that Mr. Charles Wesley did not adopt the 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 231 

opinion entertained by many persons, that licentious- 
ness is a subject of such a nature as not to admit of any 
direct notice, much less open exposure : — 

" Harlots, and publicans, and thieves, 
In holy triumph join ! 
Saved is the sinner, that believes, 
From crimes as great as mine. 

" Murd'rers, and all ye hellish crew, 
Ye sons of lust and pride, 
Believe the Saviour died for you ; 
For me the Saviour died." 

In verse 6, the poet of Methodism has expressed the 
same ideas as Pope in the " Messiah :" — 

" The Saviour comes ! by ancient bards foretold : 
Hear him, ye deaf, and all ye blind, behold ! 
# # * # # .# 

The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego, 
And leap exulting like the bounding roe." 

Hymn 2. " Come, ye sinners, poor and needy." — Hart. 

The title of this hymn is, " Come and Welcome to 
Jesus Christ." The author wrote the first line thus : — 

" Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched ;" 

and the fourth, — 

" Full of pity, joined with power." 
The second stanza, as originally published, commences 
with, " Ho ! " and the third ends with " rising beam." 
The first line of the fifth stanza reads, — 

" View him grovHing in the garden ;" 
the third line of verse 6, " venture ivholly ;" and the 
hymn concludes thus, — 

" Sinners here may sing the same." 



232 METHODIST HYMNOLOQY. 

Hymn 3. " Come, sinners, to the gospel feast." — C. Wesley. 

A paraphrase of Luke xiv, 16-24, entitled, "The 
Great Supper," and has twenty-four verses ; those 
which compose our hymn are the first, second, twelfth, 
twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty- 
fourth. The second and third lines of verse 6 read 

thus, — 

" Behold the bleeding sacrifice ! 
His offered loot mala hastt f embrace." 

Hymn 4. " Sinners, turn, why will ye die '"— ' ' Wa 

An expansion of part of Ezek. wiii. 31 : " Why will 
ye die, O house of Israel ?" The first four of sixteen 
stanzas. Hymn 14 is part of the same composi- 
tion. 

Hymn 5. u Sinners, obey the gospel word." — C. PPeriey. 

n Come, for all things are now ready." Luke xiv, 
17. The second line of verse 5, part first, commences, 
" Is ready ;" and the first line of verse 3, second part, 
" The godly gritf? The first two lines of the second, 
and last line of the fifth, stanza, part first, are plain 
allusions to the return of the prodigal son, as presented 
in the well-known parable. 

Hymn G. "Blow ye the trumpet, blow.'' — C. Wesley. 

A Hymn for New- Year's Day. See pages 185, 18G. 

This hymn is founded upon the year of Jubilee, as 
appointed in the Jewish law. See Leviticus xxv. It 
presents an attractive contrast between that law and 
the redemption wrought for mankind by the shedding 
of the Saviour's blood. The fifth verse is almost a 
paraphrase of that portion of the law which enjoins the 
return of all alienated property to its original owners. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 233 

It is presented as a type of the free salvation which is 
offered to all men through the atonement of Jesus. 

Hymn 7. " all that pass by, To Jesus draw near." 
Hymn 8. " Thy faithfulness, Lord, each moment we find." 

C. Wesley. 

These two are " Hymns on God's Everlasting Love." 
From hymn 8 one stanza, the first, has been omitted. 

Hymn 9. " Weary souls, that wander wide." — C. Wesley. 
A " Redemption Hymn," entitled the " Invitation." 

Hymn 10. " Lovers of pleasure more than God." — C. Wesley. 
Part of hymn 111. 

Hymn 11. "Awake, Jerusalem, awake." — C. Wesley. 

From a paraphrase of the fifty-second chapter of 
Isaiah, comprising thirty- two stanzas. 

Hymn 12. "Ho! every one that thirsts, draw nigh." — C. Wesley. 
The first nine stanzas of a paraphrase of the fifty- 
fifth chapter of Isaiah, consisting of thirty-one stanzas. 

Hymn 13. "Let every mortal ear attend." — Watts. 

" The Invitation of the Gospel : or, Spiritual Food 
and Clothing." Isaiah lv, 1, &c. Nine stanzas ; the sixth, 
seventh, and eighth, being omitted from the Hymn-book. 

Hymn 14. "Let the beasts their breath resign. — C. Wesley. 
Part of hymn 4. 

Hymn 15. " See, sinners, in the gospel glass." 

Hymn 16. " Sinners, believe the gospel word." — C. Wesley. 

These two are portions of a hymn of eighteen verses, 
entitled, "Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all Men." 



234 METI10DIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 199 is the latter part of the same poem. The 
fourth verse of hymn 1G contains an affecting allusion 
to Matt, xxiii, 37-39 : " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou 
that killest the prophets," <kc. 

Hymn 17. " Sinners, the call obey." — C. Wesley. 

"For Times of Trouble and Persecution." Eight 
stanzas : the third, fourth, and fifth, being omitted from 
the Hymn-book, the last of which is subjoined : — 

" See how his meteors glare ! 

(The tokens understand,) 
Famine, and pestilence, and war, 

Hang o'er the guilty land ! 
Signs in the heavens see, 

And hear the speaking rod ; 
Sinner, the judgment points to thee, 

Prepare to meet thy God ! " 

Hymn 18. M Ye thirsty for God, To Jesus give ear." — C. Wesley. 
" Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let 
him come unto me, and drink." — John vii, 37. 

Hymn 19. "Lord, we are vile, conceived in sin." — Watts. 

" Original and actual Sin confessed." Second part 
of Psalm 51. Dr. Watts wrote the third and fourth 
lines of verse 3, thus, — 

" make me wise betimes to spy 
My danger and my remedy." 

This hymn is a faithful representation of man in his 
natural state of corruption, and his recovery by the 
blood of atonement. The last line of the fourth stanza, 

" The leprosy lies deep within," 
is a figurative allusion to the description of the leprosy 
in Lev. xiii. And the fifth and sixth stanzas, 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 235 

" No bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast, 
Nor hyssop branch, nor sprinkling priest, 
Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea, 
Can wash the dismal stain away : 

" Jesus, my Lord, thy blood alone 
Hath power sufficient to atone ; 
Thy blood can make me white as snow, — 
No Jewish types could cleanse me so ;" 

afford a fine contrast between the insufficiency of the 
type and the sufficiency of the blood it typifies, in the 
purification of the sinner. The fifth stanza is founded 
on Leviticus xiv, 4-7. " Then shall the priest com- 
mand to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds 
alive and clean, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hys- 
sop. And the priest shall command that one of the 
birds be killed in an earthen vessel, over running water. 
As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar- 
wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip 
them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that 
was killed over the running water. And he shall 
sprinkle it upon him that is to be cleansed from the 
leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean." 

Hymn 20. " Sinners, the voice of God regard." — Faiocett. 

" Let the wicked forsake his way," &c. Isaiah Iv, 7. 
The author wrote lines first and third of verse 3 
thus, — 

" Your way is dark, and leads to hell :" 
" Can you in endless torments dwell j" 

and in verse 4 : — 

" Wby will you in the crooked ways 
Of sin arid folly go ?" 



236 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

One verse, the last, has been omitted from the 
Hymn-book. It is as follows : — 

" His love exceeds your highest thoughts ; 
He pardons like a God ; 
He will forgive your num'rous faults, 
Through a Redeemer's blood." 

Hymn 21. " Thou Son of God, whose flaming eyes."— C. Wesley. 
An Evening Hymn for a Family. The third line of 
verse 4 originally read, — 

And lill hu i rrefl » heart with . 

Hymn 22. " Come, thou all-victorious Lord."— C. Wesley. 

" Written before preaching at Portland," where a 
large portion of the inhabitants worked in the stone- 
quarries. This circumstance probably suggested to the 
mind of the poet the Scriptural ideas expressed in the 
first verse, — 

" Strike with the hammer of thy word, 
And break these hearts of stone.'" 

The author wrote the second line of verse G thus, — 

" And make us fid our load." 
Hymn 23. " Terrible thought! shall I alone." — C. Wesley. 

" A Thought on Hell," in ten quatrains. Two of 
the rejected stanzas are as follow : — 

" Dissolved are nature's closest ties, 
And bosom-friends forgot, 
When God. the just avenger, cries, 
' Depart, I know you not.' 

M But must I from his glorious face, 
From all his saints, retire 1 
But must I go to my own place 
In everlasting fire ?" 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 23*7 

The peculiar idea contained in the first three verses 
of the hymn, and partially expressed in the first, — 
" Terrible thought ! shall I alone, 
Who may be saved, shall I, 
Of all, alas ! whom I Jiave known, 
Through sin for ever die V 
is found in the third book of the " Last Day," by Dr. 
Young : — 

" Thy wretched self alone. 
Cast on the left of all whom thou hast known ; 
How would it wound ?•" 



Hymn 24. "Lamb of God, for sinners slain."— C. 

"Looking unto Jesus." Two double stanzas, the 
second and fourth omitted. The word " is " in line 
five, verse 3, is superfluous. 

Hymn 25. " O Thou, whom once they flock'd to hear." — C. Wesley. 
" Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
ever." Ten verses. The author wrote, " Shall make 
me rise," in the fourth, and " Thy saving grace," in the 
fifth verse. Neither of the alterations in our collection 
appears in the English Hymn-book. 

Hymn 26. " My suff'rings all to Thee are known." — C. Wesley. 
Twenty stanzas, " written in stress of temptation." 
Our hymn commences with the eighth. The other 
omitted stanzas are the twelfth, fifteenth, and twentieth. 
Some of the rejected verses are among the most re- 
markable the author ever wrote. Take, for example, 
the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth : — 

" Saviour of men, my sad complaint 

Let me into thy bosom pour 5 
- Beneath my load of sin I faint, 
And hell is ready to devour. 



238 METHODIST IIYMNOLOGY. 

" A devil to myself I am, 

Yet cannot 'scape the flesh I tear, 

Beast, fiend, and legion, is my name, 

My lot the blackness of despair. 

" Why then in this unequal strife, 

To Tophet's utmost margin driven, 
Still gasps my panting soul for life, 

Nor quite gives up her claim to heaven? 

" Why hopes for help my drooping heart ? 
Hope against hope — where none is nigh ? 
I cannot from my Lord depart, 
But kiss the feet at which I die." 

Hymn 27. " How sad our state by nature is." — Watts. 

" Faith in Christ for Pardon and Sanctification." Six 
stanzas : the one omitted, the fifth, is scarcely less re- 
markable than those by C. Wesley, quoted above : — 

" Stretch out thine arm, victorious King, 
My reigning aids subdue ; 
Drive the old dragon from his seat, 
With all his hellish crew.'' 

Dr. Watts wrote "captive minds" in the first stanza ; 
and there are a few other verbal alterations of the 
hymn, but they are all " for the better." 

Htmn 28. "Father of lights, from whom proceeds." — C. Wesley. 
"A Prayer under Convictions." Eight verses, the 
last three of which are omitted. The sixth reads 
thus, — 

" Father, I want a thankful heart ; 
I want to taste how good thou art, 
To plunge me in thy mercy's sea, 
And comprehend thy love to me ; 
The breadth, and length, and depth, and height, 
Of love divinely infinite." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 239 

It may be proper here to remark, that this stanza, as 
the first of a hymn of three stanzas, all by the same 
author, is found in the Rev. A. Toplady's Collected 
Works, page 914. London, 1837. 

Hymn 29. " that I could repent, O that I could believe !" 

C. Wesley. 
" For One fallen from Grace." Two double stanzas 
omitted. The author wrote the second line of verse 5, 
thus, — ■ 

" The cursed thing remove." 

Hymn 30. " Jesus, let thy pitying eye." — G. Wesley. 

The same subject as the preceding hymn. Twelve 
stanzas. 

Hymn 31. "Let the world their virtue boast." — C. Wesley. 

" I am determined to know nothing, save Jesus Christ, 
and him crucified." Nine stanzas. There is a near 
association of the first four lines of the third verse, 
with Judges vi, 39, 40 : — 

" I, like Gideon's fleece am found 
Unwater'd still and dry, 
While the dew on all around 
Falls plenteous from the sky." 

" And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger 
be hot against me, and I will speak but this once. Let 
me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece : 
let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all 
the ground let there be dew. And God did so that 
night : for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there 
was dew on all the ground." 

Hymn 32. " With glorious clouds encompass'd round." 

C. Wesley. 



240 METUODIST 1IYMNOLOGV. 

A hymn "For Love," in the poet's most impassioned 
strain ; although the thought in the first, and repeated 
in the last stanza, 

" With glorious clouds encompass'd round, 
Whom angels dimly see" 

and perhaps the expression belong to Milton : — 

u who sitt'st abort these heavens, 

To us invisible, or dimly seen." 

Samuel Wesley, Jun., in hymn 689, baa the follow- 
ing couplet : — 

" In light unsearchable enthroned, 
Whom angels dimly see." 

Hymn 33. "Jesus, if still the same thou art." — C. Wesley. 

" Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the king- 
dom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for 
they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for 
they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which 
do hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they shall 
be filled." Matt, v, 3-6. 

Hymn 34. " Wherewith, Lord, shall I draw near ?"— C. Wesley, 

Thirteen verses, founded on Micah vi, 6, Arc. In line 
first, verse 3, the author wrote, "Can these assuage ;" 
and in the second line, verse 5, "Present for past," &c. 

Hymn 35. Jesus, lover of my soul." — C. Wesley. 

" In Temptation." One double stanza, the third, has 
been omitted, — 

" Wilt thou not regard my call ! 
Wilt thou not regard my prayer 1 
Lo ! I sink, I faint, I fall— 
Lo ! on Thee I cast my care : 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 241 

Reach me out thy gracious hand ! 

While I of thy strength receive, 
Hoping against hope I stand, 

Dying, and behold I live !" 

This beautiful composition has been erroneously- 
claimed, by English periodical writers, for Miss Steele, 
Mr. Madan, and others. See Religious Magazine, vol. 
iv, p. 57, &c. 

Hymn 36. " Love divine, how sweet thou art !" — G. Wesley. 

" Desiring to Love." Seven stanzas ; the fifth and 
seventh have been omitted : — 

" O that with humble Peter, I 
Could weep, believe, and thrice reply, 

My faithfulness to prove, 
Thou know'st — for all to thee is known — 
Thou know'st, O Lord, and thou alone. 

Thou know'st that thee I love. 

" Thy only love do I require, 
Nothing in earth beneath desire, 

Nothing in heaven above ; 
Let earth, and heaven, and all things, go, 
Give me thy only love to know, 
Give me thy only love." 

Hymn 37. " Ah ! whither should I go ?"— C. Wesley. 

" God will have all men to be saved." 1 Tim. ii, 4. 
The first, second, third, and seventeenth, of sixteen dou- 
ble verses ; the last three of which constitute hymn 114. 

Hymn 38. " Father of Jesus Christ, the Just." — C. Wesley. 

A " Redemption Hymn," of five stanzas ; the last two 
have been omitted. We insert the fourth : — 
11 



242 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Thee without faith I cannot please, 
Faith without thee I cannot have ; 
But thou hast sent the Prince of peace 

To seek my wand'ring soul, and save : 
O Father, glorify thy son, 
And save me for his sake alone." 

Hymn 39. " Come, Holy, Celestial Dove." — C. Wesley. 

A " Hymn for Whitsunday." " Thy blood," for " the 
blood," has been substituted in the last line of the first 
verse. 

Hymn 40. u Stay, thou insulted Spirit, stay." — C Wesley. 

A " Penitential Hymn," in which there is an allusion 
to the age of the author, either at the time of composing 
the hymn, or the period of his penitential sorrow for 
sin, in the second verse, — 

" Though I have steel'd my stubborn heart, 
And still shook off my guilty fears; 
And vex'd, and urged Thee to depart, 
Tor forty long rebellious years." 

The sixth stanza has not been transferred to the 
Hymn-book : — 

" If yet thou canst my sins forgive, 
E'en now, Lord, relieve my woes, 
Into thy rest of love receive, 
And bless me with the calm repose." 

Hymn 41. " To the haven of thy breast." — C. Wesley. 

"And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the 
wind, and a covert from the tempest : as rivers of wa- 
ter in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a 
weary land." Isaiah xxxii, 2. Six stanzas. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 243 

Hymn 42. " that I could my Lord receive." — C. Wesley. 

A " Hymn for Love," of four double stanzas ; the se- 
cond omitted from the Hymn-book : — 

''Jesus, thou all-atoning Lamh, 

How shall I plead with thee ? 
If graven on thy hands I am. 

For good remember me : 
If still thou dost my tokens bear, 

Thy love to me reveal, 
And, list'ning to a sinner's prayer, 

My present pardon seal." 

Hymn 43. "Drooping soul, shake off thy fears." — C. Wesley. 

" Waiting for the Promise." Six double stanzas. 
Hymn 44. " Why should the children of a King." — Watts. 

" The Witnessing and Sealing Spirit." Bom. viii, 14- 
1G; Eph. i, 13, 14. 

Hymn 45. " My drowsy powers, why sleep ye so 2" — Watts. 

'.' Complaining of Spiritual Sloth." The author wrote 
the first couplet of the second stanza thus, — 

" The little ants for one poor grain, 
Labor, and tug, and strive." 

And the first of the sixth, — 

" Then shall our active spirits move, 
Upward our souls shall rise." 

Hymn 46. " God is in this and everyplace." — C. Wesley. 

" For One convinced of Unbelief." Sixteen stanzas, 
the last six of winch constitute the hymn as it stands 
in our collection. In the former part of the hymn, the 
author represents a person "convinced of unbelief" 
speaking to or expressing himself in the following Ian- 



244 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

" And have I measured half my days, 
And half my journey run, 
Nor tasted the Redeemer's grace, 
Nor yet my work begun ? 

<; The morning of my life is past, 
The noon is almost o'er, 
The niglit of death approaches fast, 
When I can work no more." 

It is a coincidence worthy of notice in this connection, 
that when Mr. Charles Wesley composed this hymn he 
was about forty years old — he died aged eighty — hence 
he had just, in his own beautiful language, 

" measured half his days, 

And half /(i/s journey ran." 

The next three are so much in keeping with the 
above stanzas, and withal so excellent, thai they must 
be inserted here : — 

" O what a length of wretched j 
Have I lived out in vain ! 
How fruitless all my tofts and tears I 

I am not born again. 

" Evil and sad my days have been, 
And all a painful void. 
For still I am not saved from sin ; 
For still I know not God. 

' : Darkness he makes his secret place, 
Thick clouds surround his throne ; 
Nor can I yet behold his face, 
Or find the God unknown." 

Hymn 47. " Thou hidden God, for whom I groan." — C. Wesley. 
A " Redemption Hymn." The author wrote the last 
line of verse 2 thus, — 

" Thy Deity of love :" 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 245 

and that next to the last one in the hymn, — 
'' One grain of living faith impart." 

Hymn 48. " Thou Man of griefs, remember me." — C. Wesley. 

This is founded on Heb. v, 7, 8. Five double verses ; 
the second and fifth omitted. 

Hymn 49. " Lord Jesus, when, when shall it be." 

The title of this hymn is, " Inconstancy ;" its author- 
ship, from internal evidence, is deemed doubtful, al- 
though it appears in one of John and Charles Wesley's 
publications, as early as 1 748. It is not in the English 
Wesleyan Hymn-book. 

Hymn 50. " O God to whom in flesh reveal'd." 
Hymn 51. " Jesus, thy far-extended fame." — C. Wesley. 

" Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
ever." Both these hymns are founded upon the same 
passage of Scripture. The former appears in our col- 
lection entire ; the latter lacking four stanzas. Mr. 
Wesley wrote the first line of verse 5 thus, — 

" Though seventeen hundred years are past ;" 

and so it remains in the English collection. 

Hymn 52. " Saviour, Prince of Israel's race." — C. Wesley. 

A "Penitential Hymn," comprising eleven stanzas. 
In our book there is a verbal alteration, as well as an 
error in punctuation, in the first verse. It should 
read, — 

" Saviour, Prince of Israel's race, 
See me from thy lofty throne ; 
Give the sweet relenting grace, 
Soften this obdurate stone." 



246 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY, 

Hymn 53. " O for that tenderness of heart." — C. Wesley. 

" Because thy heart was tender, and thou hast hum- 
bled thyself before the Lord," &c. 2 Kings xxii, 19, 20. 

Hymn 54. " O that I could repent." 

Hymn 55. " O that I could revere." — C. Wesley. 

" For One fallen from Grace." Four double verses : 
last four quartrains omitted from the former, and two, 
the second and third, from the latter, hymn. The 
striking figure in verse 2, of hymn 55, 

" Show me the naked sword, 
Impending o'er my head," 

is taken from the story of Damocles, as related by 
Cicero. " Damocles was one of the flatterers of 
Dionysius, the monarch of Sicily, who died 368 years 
before the Christian era. He admired the wealth and 
grandeur of that sovereign, and pronounced him the 
happiest man on earth. Dionysius, wishing to correct 
his views, prevailed on him to undertake for a time the 
charge and the duties of royalty. Damocles consented ; 
and having ascended the throne, he gazed with delight 
on the splendor and luxury by which he was surround- 
ed. But he soon perceived a sword, suspended by a 
horse-hair, directly over his head. This spoiled all his 
enjoyment : and he speedily begged permission to re- 
linquish so dangerous a situation." — Burgess. 

The Rev. Joseph Stennett, in his paraphrase on 
Prov. xiv, 9, employs the same figure, — 

" Who laughs at sin. laughs at his Maker's frowns, 
Laughs at the sword of vengeance o'er his head" &c. 

Hymn 56. — "Enslaved to sense, to pleasure prone." — C. Wesley. 
To be used as a " Grace before Meat." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 24*7 

Hymn 57. " Wretched, helpless, and distress'd." — C. Wesley. 

" Wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and 
naked." Rev. iii, 17. Eight stanzas; the second omit- 
ted. The author wrote the third line of verse 7 thus, — 

" Put on me my glorious dress " 

So it is in the English book. In the new Hymn-book of 
the Methodist E. Church, South, it reads, " this glori- 
ous dress." 

Hymn 58. " Father of Jesus Christ, my Lord." — C. Wesley. 
The title of this is, " Before Private Prayer." 

Hymn 59. " When my relief will most display." — C. Wesley. 

The two stanzas composing this hymn are from dif- 
ferent sources. The first stanza is the last, and the last 
is the first, of two hymns " For One convinced of Un- 
belief." The third line of verse 2 was written by the 
author thus, — 

" Nor let me in the winter fly." 

Hymn 60. " Jesus, in whom the weary find." — C. Wesley. 

The last part of a poem, in five parts, entitled, 
" Upon parting with his Friends." 

Hymn 61. "Author of faith, to thee I cry." — C. Wesley. 
"For One convinced of Unbelief." 

Hymn 62. " And wilt Thou yet be found '?"— C. Wesley. 

" The Resignation," a poem of twenty-two quatrains ; 
those composing our hymn are the first, second, third, 
fourth, sixth, and eighth. Hymn 67 is part of the 
same poem, which concludes thus, — 



248 METHODIST IIYMX0L0GY. 

" Snatch me from ill to come, 
When I from thee would fly ; 
O take my wand'ring spirit home. 
And grant me then to die." 

The following couplet, verse 4, perhaps needs some 
explanation : — 

" "lis worse than death my God to love, 
And not my God alone.'' 

This, remarks Dr. Summers, "is the language of a 
backslider — one who has experienced the love of God 
in his heart, but who has permitted the love of the 
world to supplant the divine affection. He has been 
trying to serve God and mammon, and the experiment 
has not proved successful. His heart is a battle- 
ground, where antagonistic principles and feelings are 
contending for the mastery. A woeful statr-! If the 
process of conversion, in general, be likened imto death, 
even the painful death of crucifixion — a dying unto mh — 
the returning prodigal, whose case we have described, 
will not find the language of the poet, in the fourth 
stanza, ambiguous, extravagant, nor inappropriate. 
This hymn, of course, should never be used only 
by a backslider, or for his benefit. And yet we have 
heard an assembly of Christian ministers sing for them- 
selves a backslider's hymn, in which there is a confes- 
sion of an 'aching void,' and the absence of the Holy 
Ghost, who has been grieved and driven away by 
sin." 

Hymn 63. "Jesus, if still thou art the same.*' — C. Wesley. 

" These things were written for our instruction." — 
Rom. xv, 4. One verse omitted. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 249 

Hymn 64. " Let the redeemed give thanks and praise." 

C. Wesley. 

From " Occasional Hymns," in " Hymns for Fami- 
lies." Five double stanzas ; the last two omitted. 
Hymn 65. " Lord, I despair myself to heal." — C. Wesley. 

" Waiting for Redemption." Six verses ; the first 
two rejected. 

Hymn 66. "Jesus, the sinner's Friend, to thee." — C. Wesley. 

"The Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that 
the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given 
to them that believe." Gal. hi, 22. Thirteen verses: 
3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 13, omitted. The poet wrote the 
last line of verse 2, — 

" And cursed I am till thou art mine." 
The strong language used in the third verse, 
" Tread down thy foes, with power control 
The beast and devil in my soul," 

the Wesleys and Whitefield learned from Bishop Hall 
and William Law.* 

Hymn 67. " When shall thy love constrain." — C. Wesley. 
See hymn 62, page 247. 

* " A merry-andrew (from a neighboring fair) finding that no 
common acts of buffoonery were of any avail, got into a tree, 
near the pulpit, and as much, perhaps, in despite as in insult, 
exposed his bare posteriors to the preacher, in the sight of all the 
people. The more brutal mob applauded him with loud laugh- 
ter, while decent persons were abashed ; and Whitefield himself 
was for a moment confounded ; but, instantly recovering himself, 
he appealed to all since now they had such a spectacle before 
them, whether he had wronged human nature in saying, with 
Bishop Hall, that " man, when left to himself, is half a fiend and 
half a brute ? or, in calling him, with William Law, a motley 
mixture of the beast and devil ?"—Southeifs Life of Wesley, vol. ii 
p 192. 

11* 



250 METHODIST HYMN O LOG T. 

Hymn 68. :; that thou wouldst the heavens rent."— C. Wesley. 
"A Prayer against the Power of Sin." A most 
sublime poem. The last two lines of the third verse, 

" Thou only canst drive hack the tide, 
And bid the sun stand still," 

refer to Joshua x, 12, 13 : " Then spake Joshua to the 
Lord, in the day when the Lord delivered up the Arao- 
rites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight 
of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon ; and thou 
Moon, in the Valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, 
and the moon staid, until the people had avenged them- 
selves upon their enemies So the sun stood still 

in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down 
about a whole day." 

Hymn 69. " Thee. Jesus, thee, the sinners Friend." 

Hymx 70. t: Still, Lord, I languish for thy crrace." — C. Wesley. 

The title of these two hymns is, " Desiring to Love." 
The former is in two parts, and contains nineteen stan- 
zas, the last five of which make hymn 331. From 
hymn *70, two stanzas, the second and fourth, have been 
omitted. 

Hymn 71. "God of my life, what just return V — C. Wesley. 

Written " after a recovery from sickness." Mr. 
Jackson says of this hymn, which, as written by the 
author, has seventeen stanzas, — it is " not only a fine 
specimen of his poetic genius, unimpaired by disease, 
but also a striking description the of state of his heart. 
A part of this hymn is well-known ; but even that part 
will be read with superior interest when viewed in con- 
nection with the impressive circumstances which called 
it forth." Some of the stanzas excluded from the 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 251 

Hymn-book are of too sublime a nature not to be in- 
serted here. The hymn thus opens : — 

" And live I yet by power divine ? 
And have I yet my course to run I 
Again brought back, in its decline, 
The shadow of my setting sun 1 

" Wond'ring, I ask, ' Is this the breast, 
Struggling so late and torn with pain % 
The eyes that upward look'd for rest, 
And dropp'd their weary lids again V 

" The recent horrors still appear : 
O may they never cease to awe ! 
Still be the king of terrors near, 
Whom late in all his pomp I saw. 

" Torture and sin prepared the way, 
And pointed to a yawning tomb ; 
Darkness behind eclipsed the day, 

And check'd my forward hopes of home. 

" My feeble flesh refused to bear 
Its strong redoubled agonies : 
When Mercy heard my speechless prayer, 
And saw me faintly gasp for ease. 

" Jesus to my deliv'rance flew, 

Where sunk in mortal pangs I lay : 
Pale Death his ancient conqu'ror knew, 
And trembled, and ungrasp'd his prey ! 

" The fever turn'd its backward course, 
Arrested by Almighty power ; 
Sudden expired its fiery force, 

And anguish gnaw'd my side no more." 

The last couplet of the first of these stanzas, 

" Again brought back, in its decline, 
The shadow of my setting sun,'' 



252 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

alludes beautifully to the restoration of King Hezekiah 
from his sickness, which had been declared by the pro- 
phet Isaiah to be unto death. The prophet directed 
him to set his house in order, saying, " For thou shalt 
die, and not live." Hearing this, the king turned his 
face to the wall, and prayed and wept. His prayer 
was heard, and the prophet was commanded to go to 
him again, and tell him that he should be healed; 
that on the third day he should go up to the house of 
the Lord ; and that fifteen years should be added to 
his life. "And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall 
be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall 
go up into the house of the Lord the third day ? And 
Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that 
the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken : shall 
the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten 
degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing 
for the shadow to go down ten degrees ; nay, but let 
the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah 
the prophet cried unto the Lord : and he brought the 
shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone 
down in the dial of Ahaz." 2 Kings xx, 1-11. 

The sign was thus mysteriously displayed by which 
Hezekiah was to know that the "shadow of his setting 
sun " was to be brought back from its decline. And 
the poet haying recovered from a severe attack of ill- 
ness, which he did not expect to survive, felt the 
thankfulness that possessed the soul of Israel's favored 
king, and rejoiced in the use of a figurative application 
of the event to his own case. 

These stanzas, in sublimity of thought, and strength 
of expression, surpass Addison's beautiful hymn, writ- 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGT. 253 

ten under similar circumstances, commencing, 
" "When rising from the bed of death," &c. 

See hymn 15. 
Hymn 72. " Fain would I go to thee, my God." — C. Wesley. 

" In Desertion or Temptation." Nine double stanzas ; 
the third of which makes verses 1 and 2, and the sixth, 
3 and 4, of our hymn. The word "spouse," in the 
third verse, is, by many, deemed objectionable. 

Hymn 73. " My God, my God, I cry to thee." — C. Wesley.. 

" After a Relapse into Sin." Twelve verses ; the fourth 
and fifth are omitted. The author originally wrote the 
first verse thus, — 

" My God, my God, on thee I call, 
Thee only would I know : 
One drop of blood on me let fall, 
And wash me white as snow." 

The last six stanzas constitute hymn 97. 

Hymn 74. {: My soul before Thee prostrate lies." — J. Wesley. 

A translation from the German, entitled, " Hoping for 
Grace," comprising eleven stanzas. 

Hymn 75. " When rising from the bed of death." — Addison. 

Composed during sickness. " Among all the reflec- 
tions which usually arise in the mind of a sick man, 
who has time and inclination to consider his approach- 
ing end, there is none more natural than that of his 
going to appear naked and unbodied before Him who 
made him." — The Spectator, No. 513. There are se- 
veral verbal alterations in the Hymn-book ; but none 



254 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

which affect the sense, unless those which appear in the 
fourth stanza be so considered : — 

"But thou hast told the troubled mind, 
Who does her sins lament, 
The timely tribute of her tears 
Shall endless woe prevent." 

The exclamation in the last line of the first verse, 
" O how shall I appear !" 

and repeated in the third verse, manifests an intensity 
of religious feeling and purpose, which is rarely found 
in the writings of any hymnologist, except it be in the 
hymns of Charles Wesley. 

Hymn* 76. i: O for a glance of heavenly day." — Hart. 

" The Stony Heart." The author wrote the last line 
of the hymn thus, — 

>; And move and met this heart of mine." 

IIymx 77. " Come, O thou Traveler unknown " — C. Wesley. 

The title of this celebrated hymn is given in the 
Hymn-book, "Wrestling Jacob." It is founded upon 
the transactions recorded in Gen. xxxii, 24-29. As ori- 
ginally written, it is not divided into parts, and contains 
fourteen stanzas ; the fifth and seventh of which, being 
omitted from the Hymn-book, are here inserted : — 

" 'Tis all in vain to hold thy tongue, 
Or touch the hollow of my thigh : 
Though every sinew be unstrung, 

Out of my arms thou shalt not fly ; 
"Wrestling. I will not let thee go, 
Till I thy name, thy nature, know. 

My strength is gone, my nature dies, 
I sink beneath thv weightv hand ; 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 255 

Faint, to revive — and fall, to rise ; 
I fall, and yet by faith I stand ; 
I stand, and wilt not let thee go, 
Till I thy name, thy nature, know." 

Gen. xxxii, 24-26: "And Jacob was left alone; and 
there wrestled with him a man until the breaking of 
the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not 
against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh : and 
the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he 
wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the 
day breaketh ? And he said, I will not let thee go, 
except thou bless me." 

James Montgomery says this poem may be ranked 
among Charles Wesley's highest achievements, " in 
which, with consummate art, he has carried on the 
action of a lyrical drama: every turn in the conflict 
with the mysterious Being against whom he wrestles 
all night being marked with precision by the varying 
language of the speaker, accompanied by intense, in- 
creasing interest, till the rapturous moment of discovery, 
when he prevails, and exclaims, ' I know thee, Saviour, 
who thou art.' " — Christian Psalmist. 

Hymn 78. " Thou, whom fain my soul would love." — C. Wesley. 

An amplification of the words of Thomas, " My Lord, 
and my God." John xx, 28. The last stanza is not in 
the Hymn-book : — 

" I know Him by those prints of love, 
His bleeding wounds are open wide ; 

Through faith I handle him, and prove ; 
I thrust my hand into his side, 

I feel the sprinkling of his blood : 
Jesus, thou art my Lord, my God !"' 



256 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 79. " Long have I seem'd to serve thee, Lord."' — C. Wesley. 

This hymn — of which 81 also is a part — entitled, 
"The Means of Grace," containing twenty-three stan- 
zas, was written in the year 1*740, in the midst of dis- 
putes which rent some of Mr. Wesley's societies, about 
the doctrine of stillness, introduced by one Molther, a 
Moravian, who "expressly denied that grace, or the 
Spirit, is transmitted through the means, particularly 
through the sacrament." This fine hymn, says Mr. 
Jackson, " guards against extremes, both on the right 
hand and on the left ; and embodies those just views on 
the subject which the brothers steadily maintained to 
the end of their lives. Charles "Wesley used to call 
upon the right-minded people in his congregations at 
the foundery, to unite with him in singing it ; and it is 
difficult to conceive how any enlightened Christian 
could refuse to join in the holy exercise. Its effect, at 
the time must have been very powerful." — Life of C. 
Wesley, p. 190. 

Hymn 80. "My gracious, loving Lord." — C. Wesley. 

This hymn, including both parts, is the first half of a 
long poem, entitled, " The Backslider," commencing, 

" Ah ! my dear, loving Lord." 
The author wrote the first two lines of verse 2, part 
first, thus, — 

" Yet now, Thou know'st, I fear, 
I fear, to ask thy grace." 

John Wesley altered them in the English Hymn-book 
so as to read, — 

" Yet, Lord, well might I fear, 
Fear even to ask thy grace.'' 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 257 

Verse 1, second part, should read thus : — 
" A goodly, formal saint," &c. 

Hymn 81. " Still, for thy loving kindness, Lord." — C. Wesley. 

See what is said above on hymn 79 ; that will ex- 
plain the line, 

" Or at thy tahle meet," 

which seems to give this the character of a sacramental 
hymn, which would be rather out of place under the 
head, " Describing Formal Religion." 

Hymn 82. " Weary of wand'ring from my God." — C. Wesley. 

" After a Recovery." The third line of verse 4 was 
originally written, — 

" Drop thy warm blood upon my heart." 
The last line of verse 5, 

" The iron sinew in my neck," 
occurs also in hymn 99, which see. 

Hymn 83. "Jesus, Friend of sinners, hear." — C. Wesley. 

" A Prayer for Restoring Grace." One stanza, the 
third, is omitted : — 

" Though my sins as mountains rise, 

And swell, and reach to heaven, 
Mercy is above the skies, 

I may be still forgiven ; 
Infinite my sins increase, 

But greater is thy mercy's store : 
Love me freely, seal my peace, 

And bid me sin no more." 

Hymn 84. " Son of God, if thy free grace." 

Hymn 85. " Lord, and is thine anger gone 1 " — C. Wesley. 

The original title of these two hymns is simply, 
" After a Recovery." From the former one stanza, and 
from the latter, three stanzas, have been omitted. 



258 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 86. " How happy are they." 

Hymn 87. " How shall a lost sinner in pain."— C. Wesley. 

These are found under the head, " Hymns for One 
fallen from Grace." Alluding to the first part of hymn 
86, Mr. Jackson remarks : " Never did he," C. Wesley, 
" forget the bright and joyous days, and months, and 
years, which followed his espousal to Christ ; and every 
remembrance of them was refreshing to his heart. The 
most perfect picture of his feelings and character at this 
period is that which was drawn many years afterward by 
his own inimitable hand. It was not under the mere in- 
fluence of a lively and poetic imagination, but of deep 
and holy feeling, that he thus sung, — 

c How happy are they who the Saviour ohey,' " &c. 

Hymn 88. " O that I were as heretofore." — C. Wesley. 

This hymn is composed of the first five, and tenth, 
stanzas of a poem, entitled, " A Prayer for Restoring 
Grace," containing eighteen stanzas. The ninth, which 
has a natural connection with the tenth, stanza of the 
original, is as follows : — 

" Through the wide world of sin and woe, 
A banish'd man. I roam ; 
But cannot find my rest below. 
But cannot wander home." 

The last line of the hymn in the Hymn-book should 

read, — 

" My Eden, how regain ? " 

Hymn 89. " for a closer walk with God."— Cowper. 
" Walking with God." Gen. v, 24. 

Hymn 90. " Show pity, Lord, Lord forgive." — Watts. 
" A Penitent pleading for Pardon." Psalm li, 1-4. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 259 

Hymn 91. "Ah! Lord, with trembling I confess." — C. Wesley. 

" If the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it 
be salted?" Matt.v, 13. 

Hymn 92. "Depth of mercy! can there be." — C. Wesley. 

" After a Relapse into Sin." Thirteen stanzas : some 
of those which have been omitted from the Hymn-book 
are very fine : instance, the sixth and twelfth : — 

" Jesus speaks, and pleads his blood ; 
lie disarms the wrath of God ! 
Now my Father's bowels move ; 
Justice lingers into love? 

"Pity from thine eye let fall ; 
By a look my soul recall ; 
Now the stone to flesh convert, 
Cast a look, and break my heart." 

This verse is an allusion to the look which the Lord 
cast upon Peter after he had denied him, and which 
reminded him so forcibly of his apostasy, that he went 
out and wept bitterly. There are a number of allusions 
to the same event in various hymns in different parts 
of the Hymn-book. They are so plainly apparent, that 
the reader can readily recognize them. 

" The single expression," in verse 3, 
" Lets the lifted thunder drop," 
" is worth whole reams of prosing amplification on the 
impending inflictions of divine vengeance. Poetically 
considered, it is indicative of the very highest mood of 
inspiration, in which all the glowing images of the mind 
are fused, condensed, concentrated ; resolved, as it were, 
into their primary and abstract essence, and set apart 
from everything of adventitious or unnecessary mix- 
ture." — Wesley an Methodist Magazine, 1831, p. 680. 



260 METHODIST IIYMXOLOGY. 

Hymn 93. "I will hearken what the Lord." — C. Wesley 

" Waiting for Christ, the Prophet," The last verse 
omitted. 

Hymn 94. " Saviour, I now with shame confess." — C. Wesley. 

" For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, 
and smote him," <fcc. Isaiah lvii, 17-19. 

Hymn 95. " 'tis enough, my God, my God." — C. Wesley. 

This is composed of verses 1, 3, and 5, of a hymn 
" On God's Everlasting Love," containing eleven stan- 
zas. Hymn 101 is the last part of the same com- 
position. 

Hymn 96. "Jesus. I believe thee near." — C. Wesley. 

"For One fallen from Grace." Six verses ; the third 
and fourth omitted. In the second line, verse 1, the 
author wrote, "fallen soul." 

Hymn 97. "0 why did I my Saviour Leave?" — C. Wesley. 

The last half of hymn 73, as originally written. 
Hymn 93. " O Jesus, full of grace.'— C. Wesley. 

" On God's Everlasting Love." Six quatrains omitted. 

Hymn 99. "0 God, thy righteousness we own." — C. Wesley. 

" For One fallen from Grace." The first couplet of 
verse 2 is rendered touchingly pathetic by the repe- 
tition of the prayer for " mercy :" — 

" Our mouth as in the dust we lay, 
And still for mercy, mercy, pray." 

The deep feeling of contrition expressed in the fol- 
lowing lines of verse 4, though not less pathetic, is 
more striking : — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 261 

" Yet do not drive us from thy face, 
A stiff -neck'd and hard-hearted race ; 
But, ! in tender mercy break 
The iron sinew in our neck." 

We have the same idea as that expressed in the last 
couplet in the fifth verse of hymn 82. 

Hhmn 100. " Father, if thou must reprove." — C. Wesley. 

The first stanza is founded on Jer. x, 24, and the 
second and third on Jer. xxiv, 7. 

Hymn 101. "O God, if thou art love indeed." — C. Wesley. 
Last part of hymn 95. 

Hymn 102. " Yes, from this instant, now, I will." — C. Wesley. 

Jer. iii, 4, 5. The author originally wrote the fourth 
stanza thus, — 

" If thou hast wiWd me to return, 
If weeping at thy feet I fall, 
The prodigal in justice spurn, 
Or pity and forgive me all." 

Hymn 103. " Shepherd of souls, with pitying eye." — C. Wesley. 
"For the Outcasts of Israel." The last line origin- 
ally read, — 

" And ivhisper all their sins forgiven." 

Hymn 104. "Jesus, my Advocate ahove." — C. Wesley. 

" Try me, O God, and seek the ground of my heart."* 

* Charles Wesley quotes here, as he docs in some other places, 
from the version of the Psalms in the Book of Common Prayer. 
He also sometimes prefers his brother's translation of the New 
Testament text to that of the authorized version. 



262 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Psalm cxxxix, 23. Five stanzas ; the fourth omitted 
from the Hymn-book. The first line, as originally writ- 
ten, read, — 

' : Jesus, my great High Priest above." 

Hymn 105. <: Spirit of faith, come down." — C. Wesley. 

From " Hymns for Whitsunday." One stanza, the 
third, excluded. 

Hymn 106. " Maker, Saviour of mankind." — C. Wesley. 
From "Hymns for Children." 

Hymn 107. " God of my salvation, hear." — C. Wesley. 

" After a Relapse into Sin." Eight stanzas ; the third, 
fifth, and seventh, omitted from the Hymn-book. 

Hymn 108. B God of all grace and majesty." — C. Wesley. 

" For the Fear of God." Five verses ; third and fourth 
omitted. In the third line of the first verse, the author 
wrote, — 

- If I haxc favor found with thee." 

Hymn 109. " My God, my life, my tore,"— Watts. 
" God, all, and in all." Psalm lxxiii, 25. 

Hymn 110. " I thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God."— J. Wesley. 

A translation from the German, full of experimental 
piety and sound doctrine. The second verse has often 
expressed the gushing feelings of a devoted follower of 
the Saviour : — 

<: Take my poor heart, and let it be 
For ever closed to all but Thee ! 
Seal thou my breast, and let me wear 
That pledge of love for ever there." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 263 

Hymn 111. " Jesus, thou all-redeeming Lord." — C. Wesley. 

" Before preaching to the Colliers in Leicestershire." 
The original has eighteen verses. Hymn 10 is extracted 
from this poem. The rejected stanzas are most re- 
markable both for sentiment and expression ; and if 
they are intended to describe the character of the Lei- 
cestershire colliers, then might the pious author well 
exclaim, — 

" O that to these poor Gentiles now 
The door were open'd wide 5 
O that their stiff-neck'd souls might bow 
To Jesus crucified !" 

But depraved as they were, he offers them, without 
exception, the blessings of the gospel : — 

" Ye liars, and blasphemers too, 
Who speak the phrase of hell; 
Ye murd'rers all, He died for you, 
He loved your souls so well. 

" Ye monsters of unnatural vice 
Too horrible to name, 
To ransom you he paid the price, 
To pluck you from the flame. 

" Vilest of all th' apostate race, 
Who dare your God deny, 
Arians, your God did in your place, 
In yours, ye deists, die. 

" Haters of God, your madness mourn, 
And God will yet forgive 
To Jesus, Friend of sinners, turn, 
Who died that you might live." 

In verses 6, 1, 8, of those retained in the Hymn- 
book, Mr. Burgess observes, " The poet makes a beau- 
tiful and ingenious use of the feet, the hands, and the 



264 METHODIST I1YMXOLOGY. 

side, of the Redeemer ; and concludes with a bold and 
striking prosopopoeia, in which his wounds are represent- 
ed as conscious and intelligent beings, and being invested 
with the power of speech, they cry, ' I suffered this for 
you !' Shakspeare has a fine passage, in which, refer- 
ring to the wounds and death of Julius Ctesar, he puts 
these words into the mouth of Antony, — 

1 1 tell you that which you yourselves do know ; 
Show you sweet Caesar's wounds ; poor, poor, dumb mouthy 
And bid them speak for me ; but were I Brutus, 
And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony 
Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue 
In every wound of Crcsar that should move 
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.' 

This is striking and grand, solemn and truly poetical. 
But the prototype of this figure, in which wounds and 
blood are personified, is in Holy Scripture. It is found 
in God's address to the murderer, Cain — The voice of thy 
toother's blood crieth unto me from the ground ; and in 
the glowing language of the great apostle, who, refer- 
ring to the blood of sprinkling, tells us that it speaketh 
better things than tlmt of Abel. The language of our 
poet is only an expansion of the apostle's sentiment : 
the blood and the wounds of Christ are still speaking 
for sinners ; through them the Saviour himself is speak- 
ino-, and saying, ' I suffered this for you.' " 

Hymn 112. " Come, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."— C. Wesley. 
Numbers vi, 24-26. 

Hymn 113. " almighty God of love."— C. Wesley. 

On " Going into a Place of Danger." First two 
stanzas omitted. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 265 

Hymn 114. " Lo, in thy hand I lay." — C. Wesley. 

The last three stanzas of hymn 37, as originally 
written. 

Hymn 115. " Great God, indulge my humble claim." — Watts. 

" Longing after God ; or, the Love of God better than 
Life." Psalm lxiii. Eight stanzas ; the fourth, fifth, and 
seventh, omitted from the Hymn-book. 

Hymn 116. " O Thou, to whose all-searching sight." — J. Wesley. 

A translation from the German, entitled, " The Be- 
liever's Support." 

Hymn 117. " Come, Lord, from above." — C. Wesley. 

From " Hymns for those that seek, and those that 
have, Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ." 

Hymn 118. "Being of beings, God of love." — C. Wesley. 
The title of this hymn is, " Grace after Meat." 

Hymn 119. "Jesus, my Lord, attend. — C. Wesley. 

The first of the " Redemption Hymns." The second 
double stanza omitted. The author wrote, "fallen 
creature's cry," in the second fine, verse 1. 

Hymn 120. " Sun of righteousness, arise." — J. Wesley. 
" A Prayer for the Light of Life." 

Hymn 121. " Son of God, thy blessing grant." — C. Wesley. 
On the Lord's Supper. 

Hymn 122. " Lord, we come before thee now." — Hammond. 

"A Hymn to be sung at Public Worship," containing 
12 



266 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

eight double stanzas : as it stands in our collection, it is 
excerpted from the first, second, fourth, and sixth. 

Hymn 123. "Jesus, from whom all blessings flow." — C. Wesley. 
The second part, with omissions, of a poem in two 
parts, entitled, "Primitive Christianity ;" first publish- 
ed by Mr. John Wesley, at the end of his " Earnest 
Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion," in the year 
1744. See Weslei/s Works, vol. v, p. 33. Also, C. 
Wesley's "Hymns and Sacred Poems," 1749, vol. ii, 
p. 333. This was a favorite hymn w r ith Mr. Fletcher. 
u After dinner he often sung several verses of Primitive 
Christianity ; particularly that, — 

' that my Lord would count me meet 
To wash his dear disciples' feet !' 

Sometimes he read many of these verses with tears 
streaming down his face." — Benson's Life of Fletcher. 

Among the omitted verses is that so often quoted as 
the production of another, — 

" Ye diff'rent sects, who all declare, 
1 Lo, here is Christ !' or, ' Christ is there ! ' 
Your stronger proofs divinely give, 
And show me where the Christians live." 

Hymn 124. " My hope, my all, my Saviour, thou." 

We have not been able to discover the authorship of 
this hymn. It is found in the first Hymn-book pub- 
lished by Bishops Coke and Asbury. 

Hymn 125. "Jesus, the all-restoring Word." — C. Wesley. 

" A Morning Hymn," of six stanzas ; the last verse 
omitted. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 267 

Hymn 126. " When, gracious Lord, when shall it be." 
Hymn 127. " Whom man forsakes Thou wilt not leave." 

C. Wesley. 

These two hymns are portions of a poem of thirteen 
verses, with the brief title, "Come, Lord Jesus!" 
The second stanza, hymn 126, 

" A poor blind child I wander here, 
If haply I may feel Thee near : 
O dark ! dark ! dark ! I still must say, 
Amidst the blaze of gospel day," 

is an imitation of Milton in Samson Agonistes, where 
he puts the following language in the mouth of 
Samson : — 

"But chief of all, 

O loss of sight, of thee I most complain ! 

Blind among enemies. =* # # 

O dark ! dark ! dark ! amid the blaze of noon, 

Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse, 

Without all hope of day !" 

The author wrote the last line of the same hymn thus — 
" My soul shall on thy bosom fall." 

Hymn 128. " Jesus, Redeemer of mankind." — C. Wesley. 

" For Times of Trouble and Persecution." Twelve 
quatrains : the first four omitted. 

Hymn 129. " Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove." — Watts. 

" Breathing after the Holy Spirit ; or, Fervency of 
Devotion desired." Dr. Watts wrote the second stanza 
thus, — 

"Look how we grovel here below, 
Fond of these trifling toys ; 
Our souls can neither Jly nor go 
To reach eternal joys." 



268 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 130. "All glory to the dying Lamb." — Watts. 

This has well been termed an " eclectic affair," being 
manufactured out of four different hymns, and every 
. stanza altered. Collate hymns 29, 7, 9, second book, 
and 143, first book, Dr. Watts. 

Hymn 131. 'Father. I stretch my hands to thee."— C. Wesley. 
"A Prayer for Faith." 

Hymn 132. " O may thy powerful word." — C. Wesley. 

" The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and tin- 
violent take it by force." Matt, xi, 12. 

Hymn 133. " O wond'rous power of faithful prayer." — C. Weskg. 
A " Redemption Hymn,", comprising eight stanzas ; 
the fifth, sixth, and seventh, omitted, the last of which 
is as follows : — 

" He cries, and weeps, and groans, and bleeds, 
As for our sins this moment slain ; 
The blood of sprinkling speaks, and pleads, 

And lo ! we share his mortal pain ! 
Our cries are mingled with his cries; 
Our tears gush out at Jesus' eyes." 

The allusion in the third line is to " the blood of 
sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of 
Abel." Heb. xii, 24. 

Hymn 134. " God. most merciful and true." — C. Wesley. 

A dilatation of Ezel\ xvi, 62, 63. The author wrote 
the last line of verse 1, — 

"And urite perfection on my heart." 

This hymn has been referred to as one of a " class of 
hymns "to be found in our Hymn-book, "containing 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 269 

everything that is contained in communion with God, 
whether of prayer or praise. Here there is the same 
absence of figure as in the first instance; — (hymn 
176) — but how shall we express otherwise than in the 
language of the hymn itself the seraphic solemnity, the 
spirit of prayer, which are evinced at the beginning and 
at the close ? that prostration of the soul before the 
Infinite Three-in-One, which none but the saved sinner 
can feel, and which seems to imitate that of the angels 
in heaven ? We shall be allowed to quote the conclud- 
ing verses :— 

1 O'erwhelm'd with thy strip endous grace, 

I shall not in thy presence move ; 
But breathe unutterable praise, 

And rapt'rous awe, and silent love. 

f Then every murm'ring thought, and vain, 
Expires, in sweet confusion lost : 
I cannot of my cross complain, 
I cannot of my goodness boast. 

' Pardon'd for all that I have done, 
My mouth as in the dust I hide ; 
And glory give to God alone, 
My God for ever pacified ! ' 

" It is only the Spirit in the first, and those conse- 
crated by him in the second, place, who can search into 
the deep things of God." — Wesleyan Methodist Maga- 
zine, 1839, p. 382. 

Hymn 135. " Why not now, my God, my God ?"— C. Wesley. 

" when wilt thou come unto me!" Psalm ci, 2. The 
first line of the second stanza, in the original, reads, — 

" At the close of life's short day ;" 
and in the Wesleyan Hymn-book thus, — 
" God of love, in this my day." 



270 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 136. "Fountain of life, to all below." 

Hymn 137. " O Thou, whom all thy saints adore." — C. Wesley. 

The title of these two excellent hymns is, " Enter- 
ing into the Congregation." 

Hymn 138. " Say, which of you would see the Lord?" 

C. Wesley. 
A paraphrase of Rev. i, 10-18. 

Hymn 139. " In boundless mercy, gracious Lord, appear." 

This hymn is found in the old "Pocket Hymn-book/' 
published by Bishops Coke and Asbury. 'We have not 
been able to trace its authorship. 

Hymn 140. " Lord, all I am is known to thee." — Watts. 

First five stanzas of the first part of the author's 
second paraphrase of the one hundred and thirty-ninth 
Psalm, entitled, " God is everywhere." Watts wrote 
the first two lines thus, — 

" In all my vast concerns icith thee, 
In vain my soul would try." 

Hymn 141. " O Thou, who earnest from above." — C. Wesley. 

" The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar ; it 
shall never go out." Lev. vi, 13. The Rev. John Wes- 
ley "told me," says the Rev. S. Bradburn, in his Sketch 
of Mr. Wesley's Character, " when with him in York- 
shire, in the year 1781, that his experience might almost 
at any time be found in the following lines : — 

1 O Thou, who earnest from above, 
The pure celestial fire t' impart, 
Kindle a flame of sacred love 
On the mean altar of my heart ! 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 271 

There let it for thy glory burn 

With inextinguishable blaze, 
And, trembling, to its source return, 

In humble love and fervent praise.' " 

Hymn 142. " Let God, who comforts the distress'd." — C. Wesley. 

The first of " Hymns of Intercession for all Mankind." 
The word " soul," in the last line of verse 2, should be 
"souls." 

Hymn 143. " Father, behold with gracious eyes." — C. Wesley. 
To be used " At the Hour of Retirement." 

Hymn 144. " Jehovah, God the Father, bless." — C. Wesley. 

"The Lord bless thee and keep thee," <fec. Num. 
vi, 24-26. Last two quatrains omitted. The third line 
of verse 4 should read, " And lift us up," &c. 

Hymn 145. "Jesus, thou sovereign Lord of all." — C. Wesley. 

The first two, and last three, of ten stanzas, entitled, 
"Desiring to pray." How consonant are the senti- 
ments expressed in the following lines with the heart- 
felt experience of every true penitent : — 

" Proceeds from Thee the wish to pray, 
The longing wish which now we feel ; 

But (we know not what to say) 
We would, but cannot, Lord, reveal 

The load our fainting spirits bear, 

Or tell thee all our wants in prayer." 

Hymn 146. :t Jesus, thou hast bid us pray." — C. Wesley. 

"Avenge me of mine adversary." Luke xviii, 3. 
Two stanzas omitted. 



272 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 147. " Jesus, I fain would find."— C. Wesley. 

This hymn is an expansion of the words, "Be zealous." 
Rev. iii, 19. 

Hymn 148. " Saviour, on me the want bestow." — C. Wealey. 
A paraphrase of Matt, v, 3, 5-8, 10, 11. 

Hymn 149. "Thee, Jesus, full of truth and grace."— C. Wesley. 

" The Trial of Faith." The doctrine of & particular 

pnmdm a which breathe* throughout C. Wesley's 

poetry, and is so forcibly expressed in the second stanza, 

" We now thy guardian presence own, 
And walk unburnt injire" 

has its counterpart, if not original, in that beautiful 
composition of Addison, known as "The Traveler's 
Hymn :" — 

"In foreign realma and lands remote, 

I «>rted l>g thy care, 
Through burning dim - //«/»■'./ unliuii. 

And breathed in tainted air." 

Hymn 150. " O let the pris'ner's mournful cries." — C. Wesley. 

"A Hymn of Intercession," containing eight<<-n 
stanzas ; the first five, and last four, omitted. 

Hymn 151. " Our earth we now lament to see." — C. Wesley. 

" For Peace." From " Hymns of Intercession for 
all Mankind." 

Hymn 152. " Author of faith, we seek thy face." — C. Wesley. 

A " Hymn of Intercession :" three stanzas, the sixth, 
eighth, and ninth, omitted : the sixth runs thus, — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 2*73 

M The dreaming, visionary fiend, 

Unmask, and drag to open light, 
And let his wild illusions end, 
And chase him to eternal night." 

The poet wrote the last line of verse 5, — 

" O save them from the plague of pride." 

Hymn 153. "I want a principle within." — C. Wesley. 

" For a Tender Conscience." Four quatrains 
omitted. 

Hymn 154. " The praying spirit breathe." — C. Wesley. 

" In a Hurry of Business." The first double stanza 
has not been inserted in the Hymn-book : — 

" Help, Lord ! the busy foe 

Is as a flood come in ! 
Lift up a standard, and o'erthrow 

This soul-distracting sin ; 
This sudden tide of care 

Stem by that bloody tree, 
Nor let the rising torrent bear 

My soul away from thee." 

The fourth line of verse 1 was written by the author, — 
" Call off my anxious heart." 

Hymn 155. " Shepherd divine, our want relieve." — C. Wesley. 
To be repeated when " Desiring to pray." 

Hymn 156. "Jesus, my strength, my hope." — C. Wesley. 
" A Poor Sinner." The last double stanza omitted. 

Hymn 157. " Help, Lord, to whom for help I fly." — C. Wesley. 

To be used as a prayer " In Temptation." 
12* 



274 METHODIST IIYMNOLOGV. 

Hymn 158. " Jesus, my Saviour, Brother, Friend."— C. Wesley. 
The first seven of fifteen stanzas, entitled, " Watch 
in all Things." The next four stanzas constitute hymn 
163, and the rest are rejected from the Hymn-book. 

Hymn 159. " A charge to keep I have." — C. Wesley. 

"Keep the charge of the Lord, that ye die not." 
Lev. viii, 35. 

Hi mv 160. " Be it my only wisdom here." — (J. W< 

"Behold the fear of the Lord, thai is wisdom, and 
to depart from evil is understanding." Job xxviii, 28. 

Hymn 161. " How vain are all things here below." — WattB. 

" Love to the Creatures is Dangerous." Tradition, 
with which tin- reader will perceive we have had little 
to do in the preparation of this work, lias added to the 
interest of this beautiful hymn, which, under any cir- 
cumstances, is interesting for its truthfulness, elegantly 
expressed. But when it is known that the little, ner- 
vous, and unprepossessing person, Watts, offered his 
hand and heart to the elegant and accomplished Miss 
Singer, afterward Mrs. Row r e, and being told by that 
lady that though she loved the jewel, she could not 
admire the casket that held it, he turned away grieved 
and disappointed, and going to his study, called his 
piety and genius into exercise to write this hymn, we 
admire that genius, and especially that piety, more than 
we ever did before. 

Dr. Southey has intimated that Mr. John Wesley 
probably wrote hymn 304 under circumstances of a 
somewhat similar nature. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 2*75 

Hymn 162. "God of almighty love." — C. Wesley. 

"An Hourly Act of Oblation." The author wrote 
the first line of verse 3, " Spirit of grace, inspire ;'" and 
the latter part of the verse thus, — 

" My feeble mind transform, 
And perfectly renew'd, 
Into a saint exalt a worm ; 
A worm into a god /" 

The sentiment of the last line, at first view, appa- 
rently so bold and presumptuous, contains the same 
idea, epitomized, expressed in the following eloquent 
passage from the first book of Young's Night 
Thoughts :— 

" How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, 
How complicate, how wonderful, is man! 
How passing wonder He who made him such ! 
Who centred in our make such strange extremes, 
From different natures marvelously mix'd, 
Connection exquisite of distant worlds ! 
Distinguish' d link in being's endless chain ! 
Midway from nothing to the Deity ! 
A beam ethereal, sullied and absorpt ! 
Though sullied and dishonor'd, still divine ! 
Dim miniature of greatness absolute ! 
An heir of glory, a frail heir of dust ! 
Helpless immortal, insect infinite ! 
A worm ! a god /" 

And Young himself doubtless was indebted for the 
drift of thoughts in the above extract to the following 
sentiments of the Saviour : — " Jesus answered them, 
Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods." 
John x, 34. See also Gen. i, 26 ; iii, 5. 



270 METHODIST HYMNOLOUY. 

Mr. Fletcher, in his work entitled, "American 
Patriotism," says: "Should not British legislators 
show themselves gods, by imitating the God of gods, 

' Who conquers all, beneath, above, 
Devils with force, and men with love V " 

"Do not reject, ye pods, his humble address for 
your American colonies." — Work*, vol iv, pp. 546-7. 

Hymn 163. " Pierce, fill me with an humble fear." — ( ' U 

Part of hymn 158. 

IIymx 164. '' Oft have avc pass'd the guilty night" — C. M 

"A Midnight Hymn." This and hymn 173 are 
probably the first two hymns that were composed by 
Mr. C. Wesley for iratchnight services, and were first 
published in 174 2. thai being th< ir in which 

Mr. John Wesley introduced these meetings among 
the Methodists, or rather sanctioned them, for they had 
already been held weekly for some time by the con- 
verted colliers of Kingswood, among whom they 
originated. Dr. Southey, who terms the watchnight 
"another of Wesley's objectionable institutions," him- 
self tells us, that the "reclaimed" colliers "having 
been accustomed to sit late on Saturday nights at 
the alehouse, transferred their weekly meetings, 
after their conversion, to the school-house, and con- 
tinued there praying and singing hymns far into the 
morning." 

Hymn 165. " Thy presence, Lord, the place shall fill." 

C. Wesley. 

Part of hymn 498. See page 400. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 2 7 7. 

Hymn 166. " Gracious Eedeemer, shake." 

Hymn 167. " Thou seest my feebleness." — C. Wesley. 

These are parts of a " Hymn for the Watchnight," 
consisting of ten double stanzas ; the first four and ninth 
of which have been omitted from the Hymn-book. The 
last line of verse 5, hymn 166, originally read, — 

" The witness let me hear ;" 
and the last two lines of hymn 16 7, — 

" Thou, Jesus, having loved thine own, 
Shalt love me to the end." 

Hymn 168. " Bid me of men beware." 

Hymn 169. " Give me a sober mind." — C. Wesley. 

These two are also watchnight hymns, and are parts 
of the same poem. The first double stanza, commencing, 

" Jesus, bestow the power," 
in which occur the lines, 

" Cheerful to undergo 
Whole nights of sweet distress," 
has been omitted from our collection. The last part 
of verse 3, hymn 168, was written by the author, — 

" Against the wiles of Satan arm 
In panoply divine." 

Hymn 170. "0 Thou, who all things canst control." — J. Wesley. 
"Spiritual Slumber;" translated from the German. 

Hymn 171. " Come, ye followers of the Lord." — C. Wesley. 

" Men ought always to pray and not to faint." Luke 
xviii, 1. One stanza omitted. 

Hymn 172. " To the hills I lift mine eyes." — C. Wesley. 

A paraphrase of Psalm cxxi; one stanza, the fifth, 
omitted, — 



278 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Thee in evil's scorching day 

The sun shall never smite ; 
Thee the moon's malignant ray 

Shall never blast by night : 
Safe from known or secret foes, 

Free from sin and Satan's thrall, 
God, when flesh, earth, hell, oppose, 

Shall keep thee safe from all." 

Hymn 173. " Hearken to the solemn voice." — C. Wesley. 

"A Midnight Hymn." The fourth stanza rejected. 
See remarks on hymn 104. 

Hymbt 174. " Prayer is appointed to convey." — Hart. 

"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thcss. v, 17. The author 
wrote the last line of verse 1, — 

* For only while they pray they live ;" 
and the last line of verse 2, — 

" The remedy 's before thee — pray." 
Two stanzas of the original, the second and third, 
have not been inserted in the Hymn-book, — 
" The Christian's heart his prayer indites ; 
He speaks as prompted from within, 
The Spirit his petition writes, 

And Christ receives and gives it in. 

"And wilt thou in dead silence be, 

When Christ stands waiting for thy prayer 1 
My soul, thou hast a Friend on high ; 
Arise, and try thy int'rest there." 

Hymn 175. " Thou. Lord, hast bless'd my going out." — C. Wesley. 
To be used " After a Journey." 

Htmx 176. iC Author of faith, eternal Word." — C. Wesley. 

This sublime hymn comprises the first six stanzas of 
a paraphrase and amplification of the eleventh chapter 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 279 

of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, entitled, " The 
Life of Faith exemplified." It contains eighty-eight 
stanzas. Hymn 592 is part of the same composition. 
Among C. Wesley's "imperishable works," says a late 
writer, there is a hymn (1*7 6) which illustrates the posi- 
tion, " that a thorough acquaintance with divine truth 
belongs only to sanctified men." This is, in fact, the 
position of the apostle, that " he who has an unction 
from the Holy One knows all things." " In this noble 
hymn, notwithstanding the euphonic flow of the verse, 
every syllable is employed in eliciting revealed truth, 
and that in language the most expressive and terse. 
An ordinary hymn, of equal length, would not contain 
a fifth part of the fine and solemn thought which is ex- 
pressed in its verses. There are no words spent on 
needless imagery ; and the only metaphors in the whole 
are, that of ' fire/ expressive of active faith, and that 
of ' darkness,' or ' shadows,' expressive of its oppo- 
site, unbelief ; and though the hymn is, undoubtedly, a 
profound and searching exposition of Heb. xi, 1, yet 
every line glows with an adoration so humble, a desire so 
fervent, and a sensibility so vital, that it is hard to say, 
whether the oracular teaching, the adoration, the desire, 
or the sensibility, has the superior place. It is evident 
there is another Spirit here besides the spirit of poetry, 
and that the author must have lived in that realizing 
faith which is the subject of his song ; and that in the 
Christian system, he knew ' all things ;' otherwise we 
should not have had such a strain of consecutive evan- 
gelical doctrine ; and the thoughts and emotions within 
him would not have fallen into a mode of expression so 
natural, and yet, without labor, so compressed." — Wes. 
Meth. Mag., 1830, p. 381. 



280 METHODIST HYMN0L0GY. 

Hymn 177. " How can a sinner know." — C. Wesley. 

"The Marks of Faith." Eight eight-line stanzas; 
the fourth and fifth omitted. The meter of this hymn 
was originally six lines 6s, and two 8s ; but it has been 
altered to short meter, by inserting the word "gra- 
cious" in the third line of verse 1, and erasing the 
word "ourselves" from the first line of verse 2; and 
by similar emendations throughout that portion of the 
hymn which has been transferred to our collection. 

Hymn 178. " Thou great mysterious God, unknown." 

C. Wesley. 

A " Redemption Hymn," of eight stanzas, the fifth 
and sixth omitted. Here is the fifth, — 

" Ah, never let thy servant rest, 
Till of my part in Christ possess'd, 

I on thy mercy feed : 
Unworthy of the crumbs that fall. 
Yet raised by Ilim who died for all, 
To cat the children's bread." 

The reference is to the woman of Canaan, who desired 
the Lord to come and heal her daughter : " Then came 
she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he 
answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's 
bread and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, 
Lord : yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from 
their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said 
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith ; be it unto thee 
even as thou wilt." Matt, xv, 22-28. 

Hymn 179. "Arise, my soul, arise." — C. Wesley. 
"Behold the Man!" John xix, 5. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 281 

Hymn 180. " Great God! to me the sight afford." — C. Wesley. 

" The Lord descended in the cloud and proclaimed 
the name of the Lord," &c. Exodus xxxiv, 5, 6. 

Hymn 181. "I ask the gift of righteousness." — C. Wesley. 

" What things soever ye desire when ye pray, be- 
lieve that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." 
Mark xi, 24. First double stanza omitted. The last two 
lines of the hymn originally read, — 

" That I to sin shall never cleave, 
Shall never act it more." 

Hymn 182. "Expand thy wings, celestial Dove." — C. Wesley. 

This is composed of two different " Scripture Hymns ;" 
the first two verses, founded upon Gen. i, 2, 3, being 
one ; and the last three verses, founded upon 2 Chron. 
vi, 20, 21, the other. 

Hymn 183. " O Thou who hast our sorrows borne." — C. Wesley. 
From " Hymns for a Family ;" no title. The author 
wrote the last line of verse 1, "Renew'd thy mortal 
pain." One stanzas, the third, omitted : — 

" My heart all other means defies, 
It dares against thy threat'nings rise, 

Thy righteous laws disdains; 
More harden'd than the fiends below, 
With unconcern to hell I go, 

And laugh at hellish pains." 

Hymn 184. " Thou God, unsearchable, unknown." — C.Wesley. 

" Verily, thou art a God that hidest thyself, God 
of Israel, the Saviour." Isaiah xlv, 15. 

Hymn 185. " Jesus, whose glory's streaming rays." — J. Wesley. 
" The Change :" a translation from the German of 



282 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Wolfgang Chr. Dessler, containing six double stanzas, 
the last three of which make hymn 283. Verses 7 
and 8 do not belong to their present position : they are 
one of C. Wesley's Short Scripture Hymns on Zech. 
xiii, 1. 

The Scriptural references in this hymn are frequent, 
and of a highly interesting character. 

" Not seraphs view with open face, 

But veil'd before thy presence stand." 

" I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and 
lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it 
stood the seraphims : each one had six wings ; with 
twain he covered his face!" Isa. vi, 1. 

" How shall weak eyes of flesh, weigh'd down 
With sin, and dim with error's night, 
Dare to behold thy awful throne, 
Or view the unapproached light ?" 

" And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like 
devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of 
the children of Israel." Exod. xxiv, 17. 

" Open mine eyes of faith, thy face 
So shall I see, yet, seeing, live." 

" And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as ? 
man speaketh to his friend." Exod. xxxiii, 11. 

" And he said, Thou canst not see my face : for then- 
shall no man see me, and live." Exod. xxxiii, 20. 

" The golden sceptre from above 

Eeach forth." 

"All the king's servants, and the people of the 

king's provinces, do know, that whosoever shall come 

unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, 

there is one law of his to put him to death, except 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 283 

such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scep- 
tre, that he may live." Esther iv, 11. 

" Say to my soul, Thou art my Love, 
My chosen midst ten thousand thou." 

" My Beloved is the chiefest among ten thousand." 
Cant, v, 10. 

" O Jesus, full of grace." 
" The only begotten of the Father, full of grace and 
truth." John i, 14. 

" Hark, how my silence speaks and cries." 
" I was dumb with silence : I held my peace — my sor- 
row was stirred. Mine heart was hot within me ; while 
I was musing the fire burned." Psalm xxxix, 2, 3. 

" Mercy, thou God of mercy, show." 
" Showing mercy unto thousands of them that love 
me and keep my commandments." Exod. xx, 6. 

:< Thou, Lord, whose blood so freely flow'd." 
"But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his 
side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water." 
John xix, 34. 

" By faith I to the Fountain fly, 
Open'd for all mankind and me." 

" In that day there shall be a fountain opened, in the 
house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
for sin and uncleanness. Zech. xiii, 1. 

Hymn 186. " Saviour, the world's and mine." — C. Wesley. 

Second hymn " On the Titles of Christ." There is, 
in the following line, verse 1, 

" Thou, my pain, my curse, kist took," 



284 METHODIST HYMNOLtHY 

a grammatical inaccuracy ; but in Mr. Wesley's day it 
was not so considered, and similar errors may be found 
in the writings of the best authors of that period. 

Hymn 187. " O Love divine, what hast thou done ?" — C. Wesley. 

" Desiring to Love." The sweet and touching bur- 
den — " My Lord, my Love, is crucified " — says Dr. 
Summers, is taken from Ignatius, the martyr. We find 
the same line in the " Songs of Praise," by Mason, of 
the seventeenth century. 

Hymn 188. " Behold the Saviour of mankind." — S. Wesley, Sen. 

This is the only hymn in the collection by the elder 
Samuel Wesley, and it was preserved in a singular 
manner when the author's parsonage was consumed by 
fire, the second time, August 24th, 1709. "Among 
other little mementos of this calamity," says the editor 
of Dr. Clarke's W T esley Family, " four leaves of music 
may be noticed, the edges of which bear the marks of 
the fire, and may be handed down to posterity as a 
curiosity. Charles Wesley, Jun., has written on one of 
the leaves, ' The words by my grandfather, the Rev. 
Samuel Wesley. Probably the music was adapted by 
Henry Purcell, or Dr. Blow.' Then follows ' A Hymn 
on the Passion : the words by the Rev. Mr. Samuel 
Wesley, rector of Epworth, in the diocese of Lincoln,' 

c Behold the Saviour of mankind,' " &c. 

This copy of the hymn does not embrace the fourth 
verse, as it stands in our collection, which was probably 
written by John Wesley ; but it contains two other 
stanzas, the second and last, which are subjoined : — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 285 

" Though far unequal our low praise 
To thy vast suff 'rings prove, 
O Lamh of God, thus all our days, 
Thus will we grieve and love !" 

" Thy loss our ruins did repair, 
Death, by thy death, is slain ; 
Thou wilt at length exalt us, where 
Thou dost in glory reign." 

Hymn 189. " Of Him who did salvation bring." — C. Wesley. 

" We love him, because he first loved us." 1 John iv, 
19. Three stanzas, the third, fourth, and fifth, omitted. 
The third runs thus, — 

" Eternal Lord, Almighty King, 
All heaven doth with thy triumphs ring : 
Thou conquer'st all beneath, above ; 
Devils with force, and men with love." 

Hymn 190. " Plunged in a gulf of dark despair." — Watts. 

" Praise to the Redeemer." Three stanzas omitted. 
This hymn is a fine representation of the condition of 
darkness and despair into which the world of mankind 
were plunged by the apostasy of their primeval head, 
the compassion with which they were regarded by the 
"Prince of grace," who left with "joyful haste" the 
"shining seats above," and entered the grave to effect 
their redemption. After this reference to the atone- 
ment, the poet calls upon the " rocks and hills," with 
"human tongues," to speak their Saviour's praise. He 
invokes the angels with " their harps of gold," to assist 
in the mighty joys. Having thus raised the climax of 
a powerful anthem, he declares its insufficiency to tell 
the love of Him of whom they sing, in the immortal 
lines, — 



286 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" But when you raise your highest notes, 
His love can ne'er be told." 

Hymn 191. "Alas ! and did my Saviour bleed ?" — Watts. 

" Godly Sorrow, arising from the Sufferings of Christ." 
The second stanza rejected. 

Hymn 192. " Ye heavens, rejoice in Jesus's grace." — C. Wesley. 
This appears in the "Redemption Hymns," 1*746; 
and was afterward published in the first volume of the 
author's " Hymns and Sacred Poems," 1749, as part of 
a paraphrase of the forty-fourth chapter of Isaiah, 
where it seems to be introduced as a chorus, after the 
following stanza : — 

" I, the bright Sun of righteousness, 
Have chased the darkness all away ; 
Return to me, who bought thy peace, 
Rejoice to see my gospel-day." 

Hymn 193. "Extended on a cursed tree." — J. Wesley. 

" They shall look upon Me, whom they have pierced." 
Zech. xii, 10. A translation from the German. 

Hymn 194, " Ye that pass by, behold the Man!" 

Hymn 195. " thou dear suff'ring Son of God." — C. Wesley. 

These two are portions of " A Passion Hymn," con- 
taining eighteen stanzas ; the third, fourth, seventh, 
seventeenth, and eighteenth of which, have been re- 
jected. In reference to a sentiment expressed in the 
second verse of hymn 195, Dr. Clarke makes the 
following remarks : " How often do we hear these, or 
similar words, said or sung : — 

' Give me to feel thy agonies ! 

One drop of thy sad cup afford !' 



METHODIST HYMNOLOOY. 2 8 "7 

" Reader ! one drop of this cup would bear down thy 
soul to endless ruin ; and these agonies would annihilate 
the universe. He suffered alone: for of the people 
there was none with him, because his sufferings were 
to make an atonement for the sins of the world : and in 
the work of redemption he had no helper." — Com., 
Luke xxiii, 28. The language of the hymn, doubtless, 
requires some qualification, although Mr. Wesley did 
not use it in a sense so objectionable. " In a qualified 
sense, however, the expression may be allowed : and 
there is some Scriptural ground of vindication. Chris- 
tians are said to suffer with Christ ; and the apostle 
Paul declared that he was filling up, in his flesh, that 
which is behind of the afflictions of Christ ; and our 
Lord himself said to Zebedee's sons, ' Ye shall, indeed, 
drink of my cup.' There is, therefore, a sense in which 
believers may drink of the Redeemer's cup, and sym- 
pathize in his sufferings ; though not in the way of 
atoning for sin. Without such a restriction, the lan- 
guage of the verse would be improper and indefensible. " 



Hymn 196. "Jesus drinks the bitter cup." — C. Wesley. 

This, and hymn 200, are parts of a hymn on the 
Lord's Supper, containing nine stanzas, two of which, 
the fifth and sixth, have been omitted from our Hymn- 
book, but are inserted in the English collection. They 
are as follow : — 

" Dies the glorious Cause of all ! 
The true eternal Pan 
Falls, to raise us from our fall, 

To ransom fallen man ! 
Well may Sol withdraw his light, 
With the Suff 'rer sympathize, 



288 METHODIST IIYMN0L0GY. 

Leave the world in sudden night, 
While his Creator dies ! 

" Well may heaven be clothed with black, 

And solemn sackcloth wear, 
Jesus' agony partako, 

The hour of darkness share : 
Mourn th' astonish' d hosts above ; 

Silence saddens all the skies ; 
Kindle* of seraphic love, 

The God of angels dies !" 

This hymn, 196, says Mr. Burgess, " is one of great 
poetical beauty and excellence. The writer notices, in 
bold and striking language, the signs and wonders ac- 
companying, or following, the death of Christ. The 
graves are opened, the rocks are rent asunder, the earth 
quakes, the heavenly bodies are affected, all nature is 
convulsed. What is the cause of all this ? The cause 
of this is : Jesus drinks the bitter cup, tasting death for 
every man. He, who is truly the great Jehovah, dies. 
The sun is represented as sympathizing with the suf- 
ferer, and withdrawing his light — the heavens put on 
the livery of woe — the hosts above mourn — the very 
skies become sad : for He who now dies is not only 
the Creator of man, but the God of angels — the object 
of supreme adoration and love to seraphim and cheru- 
bim. In the verse first quoted, the poet takes advan- 
tage of a rumor mentioned by Plutarch, as connected 
with the history of the heathen god Pan. Plutarch 
states that, in the reign of Tiberius, who was emperor 
of Rome at the time of our Saviour's crucifixion, an ex- 
traordinary voice was heard near some islands in the 
Ionian Sea, which exclaimed, The great Pan is dead ! 
The augurs were consulted on the occasion by the em- 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY, 289 

peror ; but they could not explain the meaning of this 
supernatural voice. Whether this were mere imagina- 
tion, or gratuitous notion, or a poetical contrivance, we 
cannot perhaps say ; but, at all events, the poet applies 
it to good purpose. Many of the heathens paid great 
honors to the god Pan, whom they regarded as the 
source of fecundity, and as the principle or origin of all 
things. Hence, by them, the death of Pan would be 
considered a great and general calamity. Now all this 
was heathenish superstition and error. What they in 
their ignorance attributed to Pan, belonged really and 
truly to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source and 
origin of all things — the beginning of the creation of 
God. Well, therefore, does our poet sing : — 

' Dies the glorious Cause of all ! 

The true eternal Pan 
Falls, to raise us from our fall, 
To rescue sinful man.' 

Thus, as the Christian apostle, preaching at Athens, 
seized that fine saying of the Greek poet Cleanthes — 
We are his offspring — addressed by him to the ima- 
ginary god, Jupiter, the supreme deity of the Greeks 
and Romans, and forcibly applied it to Him to whom 
alone it properly belongs, even to that God who made 
the world and all things therein, and who is Lord of 
heaven and earth ; so our Christian poet seizes the story 
of Pan and the supernatural voice announcing his death, 
and applies it to the blessed Redeemer and his death. 
Thus what would in its original application be frivolous 
and false, is dignified by being associated with divine 
truth, and with events of a most interesting and im- 
portant character. 

" For this, Charles Wesley has the example of Milton, 
13 



290 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

who, in his * Hymn for the Morning of Christ's Nativity,' 
says, — 

' The shepherds on the lawn, 
Or o'er the point of dawn, 

Sat simply chatting in a rustic row ; 
Full little thought they then 
That the mighty Pan 

Was kindly come to live with them below.' 

We have another instance of this in that very beautiful 
and devotional piece, entitled, ' Eupolis's Hymn to the 
Creator ; from the Greek.' This appeared originally in 
the volume published by the two brothers in 1739, 
under the title of ' Hymns and Sacred Poems,' and is 
generally thought, and on good grounds, to have been 
the production of the Rev. Samuel Wesley, rector of 
Epworth. This noble address to the Deity begins 
thus, — 

' Author of being, source of light, 

"With unfading beauties bright, 

Fullness, goodness, rolling round 

Thy own fair orb without a bound : 

Whether thee thy suppliants call 

Truth, or Good, or One, or All, 

Ei or Jao ! thee we hail, 

Essence that can never fail, 

Grecian or Barbaric name, 

Thy steadfast being still the same.' 

Here among the appellations given to the Deity, we 
have All, which is exactly equivalent to Pan, being the 
English translation of that Greek word. Further on in 
the poem the Supreme Being is expressly called Pan, — 

' Thy herbage, O great Pan, sustains 
The flocks that graze our Attic plains ; 
The olive, with fresh verdure crown'd, 
Rises pregnant from the ground ; 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 291 

At thy command it shoots and springs, 
And a thousand blessings brings.' 
In the close of the poem we again find the same idea, — 
' Father ! King ! whose heavenly face 
Shines serene on all thy race ! 
We thy magnificence adore, 
And thy well-known aid implore ; 
Nor vainly for thy help we call ; 
Nor can we want ; for thou art All !' 

Thou art All : as though he had said, The name Pan 
properly belongs to thee ; for thou art the Creator and 
Preserver, the Benefactor and Governor, of all; the 
Father and Friend of the human race. 

" Verse 2 is solemn, pathetic, and impassioned : the 
person reading or singing the hymn is supposed to 
realize the affecting scene ; and lo ! he feels the mortal 
smart ; his very heart is broken : then in the meltings 
of his tenderness and gratitude he turns to his fellow- 
sinners, inviting them to contemplate and to love Him 
who died for them. In verse 3 our meditations are 
turned away from the sufferings and death of Christ to 
his resurrection and ascension, and then sorrow gives 
place to joy and exultation." 

Hymn 197. " "Where shall my wond'ring soul begin." — C. Wesley. 
" Christ the Friend of Sinners." This, and hymn 287, 
were both written on the subject of the author's con- 
version. Two stanzas, the fifth and sixth, have been 
rejected from the Hymn-book, — 

" Outcasts of men, to you I call, 

Harlots, and publicans, and thieves ! 
He spreads his arms t' embrace you all ; 

Sinners alone his grace receives : 
No need of him the righteous have, 
He came the lost to seek and save. 



292 METHODIST HYMNOLOOT. 

4: Come all ye ^fagdalens in lust, 

Ye ruffians fell in murders old ; 
Repent, and live ; despair and trust ; 

Jesus to death for you was sold ; 
Though hell protest, and earth repine, 
He died for crimes like yours— and mine." 

Hymn 198. " Adam descended from above." — C. Wesley. 

" I will give thee for a covenant of the people, for 
a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind ey< »," &c. 
Isaiah xlii, 6, 7. T line of verse 1 was 

written by the poet thus, — 

•• Federal Head of all mankind;*' 
and so it still reads in the English Hymn-book, where 
also are retained the author's words in the third line of 
verse 5, — 

- Bring forth out of this lidlish pit." 
Hymn 199. " "Would Jesus have the sinner die ?" — C. We§k& 

This originally was the latter part of hymns 15 and 
16. The first couplet of verse 4, 

' : O let me kiss thy bleeding feet, 
And bathe and wash them with my ta 

is a beautiful allusion to Luke vii, 37, 38 : " And, be- 
hold a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when 
she knew T that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, 
brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his 
feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet 
with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her 
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the 
ointment." 

Hymn 200. B God of unexampled grace." — C. Wesley. 
First part of hymn 196, as originally written. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 293 

Hymn 201. " Father, how wide thy glories shine." — Watts. 

One of the author's " Lyric Poems," entitled, " God 
glorious, and Sinners saved," containing nine quatrains. 
Dr. Watts did not write the " Doxology " at the end 
of the hymn, the first line of which should read thus, — 

" Father, how wide thy glory shines" 

The following quatrain, to preserve the connection,, 
and give the sense of the author, should come between: 
the second and third stanzas, — 

" Our thoughts are lost in reverend awe ; 
We love and we adore 
The first archangel never saw 
So much of God "before." 

Hymn 202. " When Israel out of Egypt came." — C. Wesley. 

This is a most beautiful paraphrase of Psalm cxiv, 
by the poet of Methodism. Mr. Burgess, whose 
accuracy of facts is generally as reliable as his elegance 
of style is charming, has fallen into an error about the 
authorship of this hymn, attributing it in the first edi- 
tion of his Hymnology to Addison, and in the second 
to Andrew Marvell. "It appears," says he, "in an 
edition of his Works, in three volumes quarto, published 
in 1776 ; and is said to have been found among Marvell's 
other poems, either written by himself, or copied by 
his direction." Mr. Burgess appears to have decided* 
somewhat hastily in this instance, as the paraphrase 
published in Marvell's Works is not the same which 
constitutes hymn 202 ; but Dr. Watts's paraphrase of 
the same Psalm, commencing, 

" When Israel, freed from Pharaoh's hand, 
Left the proud tyrant and his land." 



294 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

The fifth line of verse 4 should read, — 

" He shakes the centre with his nod." 
There are a number of allusions to Scripture in this 
hymn. 

" Supported hy the great I am. 1 ' 

" Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I am 
hath sent me unto you." Exod. iii, 14. 

" Safe in the hollow of his hand." 
" Who measured the waters in the hollow of his hand." 
Isaiah xl, 12. 

" The Lord in Israel reign'd alone." 
" The Lord your God was your King." 1 Sam. xii, 12. 

" The sea beheld his power, and fled, 
Departed by the wond'rous rod." 

" But lift up thou thy rod, and stretch out thy hand 
over the sea and divide it, and the children of Israel 
shall go on dry ground in the midst of the sea." Exod. 
xiv, 16. 

" Jordan ran backward to its head." 

" And as they that bare the ark were come unto 
Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark 
were dipped in the brim of the water. . . . The waters 
that came down from above rose up upon a heap very 
far from the city of Adam that is beside Zaretan. . . . 
And the people passed over right against Jericho. 
And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the 
Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, 
and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground." 
Josh, iii, 15-17. 

"When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of 
Jacob from a people of strange language. . . . The sea 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 295 

saw it and fled; Jordan was driven back." Psalm 

cxiv, 1-3. 

" And Sinai felt the incumbent God." 

" Sinai was moved at the presence of God." Psalm 
Ixviii, 8. 
Hymn 203. fc ' Eternal Wisdom ! thee we praise." — Watts. 

A lyric, entitled, "A Song to Creating Wisdom," 
of eighteen stanzas, the second, ninth, eleventh, twelfth, 
thirteenth, and fifteenth of which, have been omitted. 
The bungling attempt to improve the poetry of this 
hymn, in several places, has been signally unsuccessful. 
In the eighth verse we have the ungrammatical line, 

" A thousand herbs thy arts displays /" 
The whole stanza, as Watts wrote it, runs thus, — 

" How did his wondrous skill array 
Your fields in charming green ; 
A thousand herbs his art display, 
A thousand flowers between !" 

Hymn 204. "Praise ye the Lord, ye immortal choirs." — Watts. 
Another lyric, entitled, " The Universal Hallelujah," 
being a fine paraphrase of the one hundred and forty- 
eighth Psalm, which, says Dr. Clarke, " as a hymn of 
praise, is the most sublime in the whole book." Three 
stanzas, 1, 5, and 14, omitted. Watts wrote the first 
two verses thus : — 

" Praise ye the Lord with joyful tongue, 
Ye powers that guard his throne ; 
Jesus, the man, shall lead the song, 
The God inspire the tune. 

" Gabriel, and all th' immortal choir 
That Mil the realms above, 
Sing, for he form'd you of his fire, 
And feeds you with Ins love." 



296 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

"How many have spoken loud in its praises, who 
have never attempted to express their feelings in a 
stanza of the hundred and forty -eighth Psalm! But to 
the rapturous adorers of Milton's poetry what is the 
song of David, or this grand music of the spheres ! 
Know this, forgetful man, that Milton's Morning 
Hymn [P. L., b. v, 1. 153, &c] is a paraphrase of this 
Psalm, and is indebted to it for every excellence it 
possesses. It is little else than the Psalmist speaking 
in English instead of Hebrew verse." — Clarke's Com., 
Psa. cxlviii, 14. 

Hymn 205. " O God of good, the unfathom'd sea ! " — J. Wesley. 
" God's Love to Mankind ;" a translation from the 
German. 

Hymn 206. " Hail. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."— C. Wesley. 
" Of God ;" the first of " Hymns for Children." 
The second stanza omitted : — 

" Thou neither canst be felt nor seen ; 
Thou art a spirit pure, 
Who from eternity hast been, 
And always shalt endure."' 

The author -wrote the last line of verse 1 thus, — 

" Our songs we make of Thee.* 1 

Hymn 207. " God, thou bottomless abyss." — J. Wesley. 

" God's Greatness ;" a translation from the German 
of Dr. Breithaupt. The second line of verse 3, second 
part, originally read, — 

" Incessant blessings down distils f 
but, as "now" does not make good sense, and "down 
distils" is rather tautological, the editor of the new 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 297 

Hymn-book of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
has altered the line so as to read, — 

" Parent of good ! thy bounteous hand 
Incessant benefits distils." 

This, says a recent writer, " is an awe-inspiring hymn, 
serious without being heavy ; bold without being ex- 
travagant. Either to sing or read it devoutly, brings 
God so immediately before one, that the mind becomes 
filled with adoring awe. After descriptions of the vast 
power of Jehovah, of his providence, and goodness, 
and wisdom ; and after representing justice and truth 
as standing before him, how delightfully the following 
lines are introduced, — 

' Yet nearer to Thy sacred throne, 
Mercy withholds thy lifted hand !' " 

Hymn 208. " Glorious God, accept a heart." — C. Wesley. 

From " Hymns for Children." The last stanza of 
this hymn, when made the language of a believing 
heart, cannot but be acceptable to Him who is " mer- 
ciful to all ;" and although we are commanded when 
we pray not to use " vain repetitions," yet the personal 
appropriation of the pronoun me in the following stanza, 
repeated five times, in as many consecutive lines, so far 
from being a violation of that command, is only expres- 
sive of that imjiortunity which should ever characterize 
the devotion of a disciple of Christ. Here, then, earn- 
estness becomes eloquence : — 

" Thou art merciful to all 
Who truly turn to Thee ! 
Hear me, then, for pardon call, 
And show thy grace to me : 
13* 



298 METHODIST HTMNOLOGY, 

Me, through mercy reconciled, 

Me, for Jesus' sake forgiven ; 
Me receive, thy favor'd child, 

To sing thy praise in heaven." 

Hymn 209. " Holy as thou, Lord, is none." — C. Wtsley. 

" There is none holy as the Lord ; for there is none 
besides thee ; neither is there any ruck like our God." 
1 Sam ii, 2. 

IIvmn 210. " Thou, the great, eternal God/' — C. Wesley. 

From " Hymns for Children," containing eight stan- 
zas : the first three of which compose our hymn ; and 
the last four, the hymn in the Wesleyan collection, be- 
ginning, 

" Good Thou art, and good thou dost." 
The last two lines of verse 1 . 

•• None can with Thyself compare, 

Thy glory fills both earth and sky : 
11 ' . and all tla/ creatures, are 
As notlanrj in thine eye" 

seem to countenance a doctrine quite as objectionable 
and dangerous as the well-known couplet of Pope : — 

'• Who sees with equal eye. as God of all, 
A hero perish, or a sparrow fall." 

To which Mr. John "Wesley replies : " I cannot think 
it ; because I believe the Bible, wherein the Creator 
and Governor of the world himself tells me quite the 
contraiy : ' Are ye not of more value than many spar- 
rows ?' " — Sermons, vol. ii, pp. 104-5. But the author 
of the hymn did not intend to inculcate any such un- 
scriptural tenet. His meaning may perhaps be found 
in the following passage : " For who in heaven can be 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 299 

compared unto the Lord ? who among the sons of the 
mighty can be likened unto the Lord ? " Psa. lxxxix, 6. 

Hymn 211. " Blest be our everlasting Lord." — C. Wesley. 

1 Chron. xxix, 10-13. Does not the fourth stanza 
recognize the doctrine of the divine right of kings ? 

" And kings their power and dignity- 
Out of Thy hand receive." 

Before the American revolution, when we were loyal 
subjects, we could sing, as our British brethren still 
do:— 

" Sovereign of all ! whose will ordains 
The powers on earth that be, 
By whom our rightful monarch reigns, 
Subject to none but thee. 

" Guard him from all who dare oppose 
Thy delegate and thee ; 
From open and from secret foes, 
From force and perfidy !" 

But after we became republican citizens, it became ne- 
cessary to revolutionize some of our hymns ; for their 
sentiments were no longer applicable to us as a people. 
Hence the above stanzas were altered so as to read, — 

" Ruler of all, whose will ordains 
The powers on earth that be ; 
By whom our rightful ruler reigns, 
Subject to laws and thee. 

" Guard him from all who dare oppose 
Our president and thee," &c. 

The hymns from which these extracts are made may 
be found in the second part of the old double Hymn- 
book. 



300 METHODIST HYMNOLOUY. 

Hymn 212. "Eternal Power, whose high abode." — Watts. 

From the author's Lyric Poems, entitled, " God ex- 
alted above all Praise." The second stanza omitted ; 
and the first line of the third — the second in the 
Hymn-book — altered : — 

" The lowest step about thy scat 
Rises too high for Gabriel's feet ; 
In vain the tall archangel tries 
To reach thine height with wond'ring eyes. 

Thy dazzling braiUics while he sings," ^c. 

Hymn 213. "Holy. holy, holy Lord."— C. Wesley. 

From " Hymns and Prayers to the Trinity." The 
following ungrammatical line in verse 2, 

" Thee, while dust and ashes sings" 
indeed the whole quatrain, seems to be an imitation of 
Watts's beautiful stanza, — 

" Thy dazzling beauties while he 

He hides hxsjuce behind his wings : 

And ranks of shining thrones around 

Fall worshiping, and spread the ground." 
The quatrain in the Wesley an collection reads thus, — 
" Thee, while man, the earth-born, sings, 

Angels shrink within their wings ; 

Prostrate seraphim above 

Breathe unutterable love." 

An excellent critic remarks of this hymn, that it "is 
a composition of great excellence and beauty, the dic- 
tion being eminently choice and harmonious. The latter 
part of verse 2 is specially worthy of notice. The 
harsh word shrink is remarkably apposite, as conveying 
some impression of the solemn awe, approaching to 
terror, with which the holy angels are sometimes 
affected, when gazing on the glories of the Godhead ; 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 301 

and the two following lines are exquisitely soft and 
beautiful. There are the seraphim ; but what is their 
posture ? They are not standing up, bold and una- 
bashed ; they are not satisfied with concealing them- 
selves behind their wings; no — they fall prostrate 
before the triune God. They are full of love, but they 
do not attempt to give utterance to their feelings ; all 
they can do is, to breathe out silently their adoration 
and praises ; and their very breath is love^unutterable 
love — love to Him who is himself essential and infinite 
love. Here, indeed, we have noble thoughts, conveyed 
in fine and appropriate language." — Burgess. 

Young has the following line in " The Complaint," 
Night Second, — 

" Time, in advance, behind him hides his icings" 

Hymn 214. " Hail! holy, holy, holy Lord." — C. Wesley. 

" One cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy 
is the Lord of hosts." Isaiah vi, 3. See also Rev. iv, 8. 

Hymn 215. "A thousand oracles divine." — C. Wesley. 

The poet, in this fine hymn to the Trinity, is indebted 
to Dr. Young for some of his best thoughts, as in 
verse 7, — 

' ; Ye seraphs, nearest to the throne, 
With rapturous amaze 
On us, poor ransom'd worms, look dawn 
For Heaverfs superior praiseP 
Here we have some of the very expressions found in 
the following passage of the Night Thoughts, Night 
Fourth, line 43 Y, &c. : the theme, redemption and the 
holy angels : — 

" this theme is man's, and man's alone ; 

Their vast appointments reach it not : they see 



302 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

On earth a bounty not indulged on high, 
And downward look for Heaven's superior praise. 
First-bora of ether ! high in fields of light ! 
View man, to see the glory of your God !" 

Hymn 216. "Come. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." — C. Wesley. 

The third stanza has been rejected from the new 
Hymn-book of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
for the following reason: " C. Wesley entertained the 
opinion, that the work of each of the three persons 
of the Trinity is so distinctly marked, as to become a 
matter of 'experimental verity* to the Christian who 
attentively contemplates the work of God in his soul. 
The believer has an inward demonstration of the great 
mystery of the Trinity. J. Wesley was not very 
strongly impressed in favor of this sentiment ; but it 
appears from the Life of Lady Maxwell, that that ex- 
traordinary woman, and some others, like her, deeply 
experienced in divine things, professed, in the language 
of Doctor Owen, to ' have communion distinctly with 
the Father, and distinctly with the Son, and distinctly 
with the Holy Spirit,' Jeremy Taylor, and some other 
able divines, countenanced the opinion. This is not 
the place to denounce, dispute, or defend it ; it is cer- 
tainly a matter of doubtful disputation, and conse- 
quently may be very well spared from the ' poetical 
liturgy ' of the church. Few, we think, will plead for 
its retention, as set forth in the strong, unqualified 
terms, of the excluded stanza : 

' Soon as our pardond hearts believe 
That thou art pure essential love, 
The proof we in ourselves receive 
Of the three witnesses above ; 



v: - -' METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 303 

Sure, as the saints around thy throne, 
That Father, Word, and Spirit are one.' "* 

Hymn 217. " all-creating God!"— C. Wesley. 

" Of the Creation and Fall of Man." The first of 
five double stanzas from " Hymns for Children." 

Hymn 218. " My soul, through my Eecleemer's care." — C. Wesley. 

"Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine 

eyes from tears, and my feet from falling." Psa. cxvi, 8. 

Hymn 219. " In that sad, memorahle night." 
Hymn 220. "Let all who truly hear." — C. Wesley. 

Hymns on the Lord's Supper : " As it is a memo- 
rial of the sufferings and death of Christ." Hymn 219 
is an affecting paraphrase of the institution of the Lord's 
supper : " And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, 
and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disci- 
ples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he 
took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, 
saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the 
New Testament which is shed for many, for the re- 
mission of sins." Matt, xxvi, 26-28. The last verse 
of hymn 219 omitted : — 

" The grace which I to all bequeath, 
In this divine memorial take ; 
And, mindful of your Saviour's death, 
Do this, my followers, for my sake ; 
Whose dying love hath left behind 
Eternal love for all mankind." 

Hymn 221. " Jesus, at whose supreme command." 
Hymn 222. "Jesus, we thus obey." — C. Wesley. 

Before the Sacrament ; as it is a sign and means of 
grace. Three quatrains excluded from hymn 222. 
* Southern Methodist Quarterly Review, vol. ii, p. 84. 



30-1 METHODIST HYMN O LOGY. 

Hymn 223. " Rock of Israel, cleft for me." — C. 

The Lord's Supper ; as it is a Memorial, &c. Four 
double stanzas. 

Hymn 224. "Author of our salvation, thee." 

Hymn 225. t; Jesus, all-redeeming Lord." — C. Wesley. 

The Lord's Supper ; as it is a Sign and Means of 
Grace. 

Hymn 226. " Come, thou everlasting Spirit." 
Hymn 227. ' ; 0, thou eternal Victim, slain." 
Hymn 223. "Lamb of God, whose dying love." — C. Tl 
The Lord's Supper ; as it is a Memorial, <fcc. 

Hymn 229. u Come, Saviour, let thy tokens prove." — C. Wesley. 
This is another manufactured hymn. The first stanza 
is from hymn 72, on the Lord's Supper; the second 
and third compose the last double stanza of hymn 
221 ; and the fourth is from C. Wesley's Hymns and 
Sacred Poems, 1749, vol. i, p. 188. 

Hymn 230. u That doleful night before his death.'' — Hart. 
The author wrote the third verse thus, 

<; Thy suff 'rings, Lord, each sacred sign 
To our remembrance brings : 
We eat the bread and drink the wine, 
But think on nobler things ;" 

which preserves both sense and rhyme. 

Hymn 231. ; Ye wretched, hungry, starving poor." — Steele. 

" Longing Souls invited to the Gospel Feast." Luke 
xiv, 22. Two stanzas, the third and fourth, omitted : — 

;; Room in the Saviour's bleeding heart : 
There love and pity meet ; 
Nor will he bid the soul depart 
That trembles at his feet. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 305 

" In Mm, the Father reconciled, 
Invites your souls to come ; 
The rebel shall be call'd a child, 
And kindly welcomed home." 

The author wrote the third line of verse 2 thus, 
" Guilt holds you back," &c. ; and the third line of 
verse 5, " Ye longing souls," &c. 

Hymn 232. " The King of heaven his table spreads." — Doddridge. 
"Koom at the Gospel Feast." Luke xix, 22. In 
the second line, verse 1, " blessings " has been substi- 
tuted for " dainties," as in the original. Two stanzas, 
third and fifth, excluded : the latter runs thus, — 

" Yet is his house and heart so large, 
That millions more may come ; 
Nor could the wide assembling world 
O'erfill the spacious room." 

Hymn 233. " Glory to God on high." — Hart. 

"For the Lord's Supper:" two verses, inclining 
somewhat to the doggerel, omitted. Hart wrote the 
last line, verse 1, "That sin might be forgiven." 

Hymn 234. " Celestial Dove, descend from high." 

Hart and Watts. 

Verses one and three are the last two of a hymn 
by Hart, commencing, "Father of heaven, we thee 
address ;" and the second is from Watts, book ii, 
h. 141, v. 6. 

Hymn 235. "My Saviour's pierced side." — Watts and Wesley, 

Verse 1 by Watts, book iii, h. 9, v. 4 ; the second 
and third make one of C. Wesley's Short Scripture 
Hymns, on Acts xxii, 16. 



306 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 236. " Come, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."— C Wesley. 
To be used "At the Baptism of Adults." 

Hymn 237. " heavenly King, look down from above." 

C. Wesley. 

" A Thanksgiving Hymn." 
Hymn 238. " The voice of my Beloved sounds."— C. Wesley. 

" The voice of my Beloved." " Lo, the winter is 
past, the rain is gone," &c. Cant, viii, 8, 11. 

The eleventh and twelfth verses of Cant, ii, is beau- 
tifully paraphrased in the second stanza of this hymn :— 
" The scattered clouds are fled at last, 
The rain is gone, the winter 's past, 
The lovely vernal flowers appear, 
The warbling choirs enchant our ear ; 
Now with sweetly pensive moan 
Coos the turtle-dove alone." 

" For lo ! the winter is past ; the rain is over and 
gone ; the flowers appear on the earth ; the time of 
singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is 
heard in our land." 
Hymn 239. " Come, let us who in Christ believe."— C. Wesley. 

" On God's Everlasting Love :" the first stanza, and 
last three, of a hymn of fourteen stanzas. The follow- 
ing two are the second and third : — 

" His grace would every soul restore 
That fell in Adam's fall : 
His Father's justice asks no more, 
Since He hath died for all. 
" He died for all ; he none pass'd by 
In their forlorn estate ; 
He left not in his sin to die 
One hopeless reprobate." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 307 

Hymn 240. " Thou hidden Source of calm repose." — C. Wesley. 

" For Believers." The poet wrote the last line of 
the hymn thus, — 

" My life in death, my heaven in hell? 
The editor of the Hymn-book evidently stumbled at the 
almost startling expression, and altered it ; though it 
still remains unchanged in the Wesleyan collection. 
" In verses 3 and 4 of this fine hymn," says Mr. Bur- 
gess, " we have a comment on the words, Christ is 
all and in all, illustrating also that other inspired say- 
ing, All things are yours. The poet selects various 
circumstances of trial, suffering, and distress ; and, in 
several striking antitheses, he points out the privilege 
and the happiness of the true Christian. Christ is his 
rest in toil — his ease in pain — his peace in war — his 
gain in loss — his liberty in bondage. Last of all, to 
complete the climax, he introduces the strongest and 
most hyperbolical of all the expressions employed, de- 
claring that Jesus is his heaven in hell. All the other 
expressions in these verses may be understood literally as 
referring to possible events, and to circumstances through 
which many of the disciples of Christ have actually had 
to pass. But this last expression can be understood 
only in a figurative way. It cannot be applied to the 
place or state of eternal torment, which we usually 
designate by the term hell : but must be considered as 
implying merely a place or a state of the greatest 
bodily suffering, or the most distressing exercises of 
mind, not connected with a guilty conscience. Such 
circumstances might be regarded as constituting a local 
or temporary hell ; and if a Christian believer were so 
situated, he would still have a heaven of peace and 



308 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

comfort in his soul ; and thus he might truly affirm that 
Christ is his heaven in hell." 

Hymn 241. " Talk with us, Lord, thyself reveal." — C. Wesley. 

The title is, " On a Journey ;" and the hymn is writ- 
ten in the first person singular, and commences at the 
second stanza : the first runs tints, — 

" Saviour, who ready art to hear, 
Headier than I to pray, 
Answer my scarcely utter'd prayer, 
And meet me on the way. " 

Hymn 242. "Jesus, to thee I now can fly." — C. Wesley. 

The sixth, and last three, of a poem containing ten, 
stanzas, entitled, " After a Relapse into Sin." 

Hymn 243. i- How happy, gracious Lord, are we !" — C. Wesley. 
" For the Watchnight." 

Hymn 244. '" Thee will I love, my strength, my tower." 

./. Wesley. 

A translation from the German, entitled, "Gratitude 
for our Conversion." 

Hymn 245. " Infinite, unexhausted love." — C. Wesley. 

" After a Recovery :" eighteen stanzas, the first eight, 
tenth, and sixteenth, excluded ; but in the Wesleyan 
collection the tenth stanza is inserted, where it forms 
the seventh : — 

<: Deeper than hell, it pluck'd me thence. 
Deeper than inbred sin, 
Jesus's love my heart shall cleanse, 
When Jesus enters in." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 309 

There is apparent confusion of metaphors in the last 
verse, where we are taught to pray, — 

" And sink me to perfection's height, 
The depth of humble love." 

The height of Scriptural perfection, and the depth of 
humble love, are identical ; so that, remarks Mr. Bur- 
gess, " he who realizes the one, cannot be a stranger to 
the other. Now we may raise a person to a height, or 
sink him into a depth ; but we cannot, in strict pro- 
priety of language, speak of sinking any one to a 
height. In some editions the third line appears thus, — 

' And raise me to perfection's height.' 
The meaning of the petition, however, is plain enough, 
and is just the same, whether we say sink or raise" 

Hymn 246. "Jesus, thou everlasting King." — Watts. 

"The Coronation of Christ, and Espousals of the 
Church." Cant, iii, 2. The first and last verses omit- 
ted :— 

" Daughters of Zion, come, behold 
The crown of honor and of gold, 
Which the glad church, with joys unknown, 
Placed on the head of Solomon. 

" O that the months would roll away, 
And bring that coronation day ! 
The King of grace shall fill the throne 
With all his Father's glories on." 

The poet wrote the last line of verse 3 thus, — 
" Nor comfort sink, nor love grow cold." 

Hymn 247. " Thou Shepherd of Israel and mine." — C. Wesley. 
" Tell me, thou whom my soul loveth, where thou 



310 



METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 



feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon." 
Cant, i, 7. 

Hymn 248. " Come, thou almighty King." 

This is a parody of the celebrated hymn, " God save 
the King ;" and its authorship, like that of the National 
Anthem, is unknown. In England no efforts have been 
spared to ascertain the origin of the anthem : the author- 
ship has been claimed for different parties, English, 
Scotch, and German; but the proof in all the in- 
stances being of doubtful character, it cannot be ascrib- 
ed to any with certainty. The first printed copy of the 
National Anthem, though it is supposed to be much 
older, is said to be that found in the "Gentleman's 
Magazine" for 1*745, where it is called "A Song for 
Two Voices." And as there are innumerable versions 
differing from the original, it is here inserted as a 
literary relic, with the original music, copied faithfully 
from the "veteran magazine:" — 



es 



-4r-S 



atz^z 



God save great George our king, Long live our 



2d#SE* 



*4= 



! -3-#~l— -P-+I 


l_j - r- 


II m m m 


JL Am* 


J 1 1 


Hi i i 


f(\) s. m 




a • X t - 


\yjy ~ 


--' #. 4 


° 111 J_ 1 


no - ble king, God save the king ; Send him vic- 
^ a « 


^% '-& m' m m 


\ 1 1 


111 i i 


J -* r i i 




II 




d m . m 


■ I ' ' 


— I — U ' 




^Jl_ 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 



311 



* 






=£=* 



to - ri - ous, Hap - py and glo - ri - ous, 



Sit 



« 



:t 



I 



S^gi^S 



Long to reign o - ver us, God save the king. 



^SSSS 



" O Lord our God arise, 
Scatter his enemies, 

And make them fall ; 
Confound their politics, 
Frustrate their knavish tricks 
On him our hopes we fix, 
O save us all. 

" Thy choicest gifts in store 
On George be pleased to pour, 

Long may he reign ; 
May he defend our laws, 
And ever give us cause 
To say with heart and voice, 
God save the king." 

It has been asserted in the " Chronicles of the Seasons," 
that " God save the King " has now become an adopted 
national air in many parts of Germany, such as Prussia, 
Saxony, and Weimar — and, may it not be added, in the 
republican United States, disguised under the generic 
title, "America?" It may be remarked, that in the 
present version of the National Anthem, the name of 



312 METHODIST HYMNOLOGV. 

Queen Victoria does not occur ; the peculiar metre of 
the hymn rendering it difficult, it is said, to introduce 
a word of so many syllables, " without a greater change 
in the structure of the whole than would be willingly 
tolerated." It may perhaps be sufficient that the term 
victorious is already there. 

The earliest source which discover}' has been able to 
make in reference to the parody which constitutes 
hymn 248, is in the Appendix to a volume, entitled, " A 
Collection of Psalms and Hymns, extracted from Vari- 
ous Authors, and published by the Rev. Mr. Madan." 
The third edition, with an Appendix : London, 1764. 
This was only nineteen years after the appearance of the 
National Anthem in the " Gentleman's Magazine." 
This hymn was inserted in the first Hymn-book pub- 
lished by Bishops Coke and Ashury, after the institu- 
tion of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784; and 
it has deservedly retained its place and integrity through 
all subsequent editions, enlargements, and emendations, 
of that work, to the present day. It will probably re- 
main so long as we shall continue a church militant. 

Hymn 249. " How tedious and tasteless the hours." — Newton. 

"None upon earth I desire besides Thee." Psalm 
lxxiii, 25. Tins is truly one of the sweetest sacred 
lyrics in the English language, the lively flow of the 
meter being in admirable keeping with the joyous cha- 
racter of the sentiments : for although the poet asks, 

" why do I languish and pine, 

And why are my winters so long V 

it is evident from the whole tenor of the hymn that his 
resignation and contentment are perfect, and that his 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 313 

winters, though long, are as pleasant as May. The 
latter part of verse 3, 

" While bless'd with a sense of his love, 
A palace a toy would appear ; 
And prisons would palaces prove, 
If Jesus would dwell with me there," 

which, perhaps, contains the most precious gem of 
thought in the whole poem, excellent as it undoubtedly 
is, cannot be considered as entirely original with the 
author, as the " accomplished Lovelace," an old English 
poet, expresses the same idea in the following stanza 
of a poem written when confined in the Gatehouse at 
Westminster, more than a century before Newton 
wrote : — 

" Stone walls do not a prison make, 

Nor iron bars a cage ; 
Minds innocent and quiet, take 

That for a hermitage." 

Though his body was immured within the walls 
of a prison, Lovelace felt that he was not a prisoner. 
His mind was uncaged. And he gives the reason — 
because it was free from guilt. The distinction wears 
the impress of truth. It is the consciousness of guilt 
that binds the mental powers and makes the man a 
prisoner. It is sin that throws its fetters around the 
human intellect, estranges the man from his God, and 
shuts him up in prison. The author of the hymn ex- 
presses this idea beautifully in its antithesis, — 

" And prisons would palaces prove, 
If Jesus would divell ivith me there." 

Hymn 250. " Come, thou Fount of every blessing." — Robinson. 

This hymn, according to the author's biographer, 
14 



314 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

was originally published in Dr. Evans's or Mr. White- 
field's Hymn-book : in the latter it is entitled, " Desiring 
to pray worthily," where several lines read somewhat 
differently from the version in our collection. The fol- 
lowing anecdote, in which this hymn is referred to, is 
related by a correspondent of the " Christian Reflector," 
on the authority of " a very near relative of one of the 
parties concerned." In the latter part of his life, Mr. 
Robinson became doubtful as to his religious character ; 
and, to say the least, was distinguished for levity. A 
lady one day was traveling in a stage-coach with a gen- 
tleman who soon gave evidence of being well acquainted 
with religion. She had been just before reading the 
hymn of which we are writing, and asked his opinion 
of it ; he waived the subject, and turned her attention 
to some other topic : but after a short period, she con- 
trived to return to it, and described the benefits she had 
often derived from the hymn, and her strong admiration 
of its sentiments. She observed the strange agitation 
of her companion, but, as he was arrayed in colored 
clothes, never suspected the cause. At length, entirely 
overcome, the gentleman burst into tears, and said, 
" Madam, I am the individual who composed that hymn 
years ago ; and I would give a thousand worlds, if I 
had them, to enjoy the feelings I then had."* 

* In our sketch of Mr. Robinson, (page 67,) it is stated that 
he wrote a Christmas hymn, which we suppose to be the one in 
our Sunday School Hymn-book, beginning, 

•• Mighty God, while angels bless thee, 
May an infant lisp thy name V* 
The following incident is related of this hymn by the above 
writer : — " It was written by its author for the use of a little boy, 
who sat during the period of its composition on his knee, and 
whose mind was deeply impressed, young as he was, when 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 315 

Hymn 251. " Ye ransom'd sinners, hear." — C. Wesley. 

" Rejoicing in Hope :" eight stanzas, the second ex- 
cluded. The first originally read, "Ye happy sin- 
ners." 

Hymn 252. " Come, ye that love the Lord." — Watts. 

" Heavenly Joy on Earth :" ten quatrains, the second 
and ninth omitted ; the former of which runs thus, — 

" The sorrows of the mind 
Be banish'd from the place : 
Religion never was design'd 
To make our pleasures less." 

Watts wrote the first four lines of verse 2 of our 
Hymn-book as follow : — 

" The God that rules on high, 
And thunders when he please. 
That rides upon the stormy sky, 
And manages the seas." 

Hymn 253. " Happy the man who finds the grace." — C. Wesley. 
" Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the 
man that getteth understanding," <fcc. Prov. iii, 13-18. 
Nine stanzas ; the fourth, fifth, and eighth, rejected. 

Hymn 254. " Happy the souls to Jesus join'd." — C. Wesley. 

" The Sacrament, a Pledge of Heaven." A most de- 
lightful hymn, beautifully describing the employment 
of the "family of heaven;" the members of which, 

Robinson first read it to him, and then placed it in his hand. 
That child lived to a great age. We remember the deep feeling 
with which he told us the fact at his own fireside. He was a 
man of great piety and moral worth, and of considerable influ- 
ence and usefulness." 



316 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

although divided, part having joined the church tri- 
umphant, unite in the same divine strain : — 

" They sing the Lamb in hymns above, 
And we in hymns below." 

This "family " is also called the "kingdom of heaven," 
which is composed of the faithful on earth, and of 
the saints in heaven. The hymn shows how, in their 
different positions, its subjects unite in praising God, 
and anticipates the period when the spirits of those 
who are confined to this world shall be divested of their 
fleshly tenements, and unite in closer communion with 
the multitudes of the redeemed who have passed 
through the place of the holy here on earth to that of 
the holiest in heaven. 

Hymn 255. v My God, I am thine. "What a comfort divine." 

a 



" For Believers :" the language triumphant, and the 
liveliness of the meter corresponding with the senti- 
ments. 

Hy»in 256. '• Let earth and heaven agree.'' — C. Wesley. 

" On God's Everlasting Love :" ten stanzas ; sixth, 
eighth, and tenth, omitted. 

Hymn 257. Ci Lord, how secure and bless'd are they." — Watts. 

"The Pleasures of a Good Conscience." The last 
verse rejected. 

Hymn 258. " Thy ceaseless, unexhausted love." — C. Wesley. 

" The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffer- 
ing, and abundant in goodness and truth." Exodus 
xxxiv, 6. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 31*7 

Hymn 259. " Kejoice, the Lord is King." — C. Wesley. 

" For our Lord's Resurrection." The burden of this 
hymn is probably taken from Lamentations iii, 41 : 
" Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in 
the heavens." 

Hymn 260. " tell me no more Of this world's vain store." 

Gambold. 

One stanza omitted ; but it does not deserve a place 
with the rest of the verses, which have been rendered 
precious to many hearts by frequent profitable use, and 
early religious reminiscences. 

Hymn 261. " My God, the spring of all my joys." — Watts. 

" God's Presence is Light in Darkness." There are 
a few verbal alterations in this hymn as it appears in 
our Hymn-book, the most material of which occur in 
the third fine of verse 3, written by Watts thus, — 

" While Jesus shows his heart is mine ;" 
and last line of verse 4, — 

" T 7 ' embrace my dearest Lord." 

" This hymn," says Milner, " is almost without ' spot 
or blemish,' if we except the last line of the fourth 
verse, which has certainly been amended by Wesley. 
For felicity of expression, strength and tenderness of 
feeling, and beautiful pictorial truth, it has never been 
surpassed ; it is a sublime communion with the Deity, 
made visible to the eye of faith, and brought near with 
the cords of love, giving birth to a majestic burst of 
impassioned and irrepressible joy and triumph." An 
able critic, in the Wesley an Methodist Magazine, says 
of this hymn, that, in his opinion, it is the very best of 



gl8 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Watts's hymns— the most deeply imbued with the 
true and powerful spirit of such productions. It 
breathes the intense earnestness, the passionate and 
kindling fervor, of Wesley himself. It is an almost 
agonistic effusion of irrepressible joy and triumphant 
faith." 

It may not be out of place here to remark, that 
Milner, in his Life of Watts, forgetting that Watts 
wrote his hymn before Gray was born, says, the " senti- 
ment" of the following verse, 

" The op'ning heavens around me shine 
With beams of sacred bliss, 
If Jesus shows his mercy mine. 
And whispers I am his," 

owes its origin to the " beautiful idea " contained in the 
concluding line of the following stanza of Gray's " Frag- 
ment on Vicissitude," having been " seized upon by the 
hymnist, and skillfully introduced in the third verse of 
the hymn :" — 

" See the wretch that long has toss'd 
On the thorny bed of pain, 
At length repair his vigor lost, 

And breathe and walk again ; 
The meanest flow'ret of the vale, 
The simplest note that swells the gale, 
The common sun, the air, the skies, 
To him are open in paradise:' 

Hence Gray took his idea from Watts, and not Watts 
from Gray, as stated by Milner ; or else it is merely 
an unconscious coincidence of thought ; which coinci- 
dence, we will also remark, was first noticed by Mr. 
Montgomery in the fine introductory essay to his " Chris- 
tian Psalmist." 



METHODIST HTMNOLOGY. 319 

Hymn 262. " I'll praise my Maker while I 've breath." — Watts. 

" Praise to God for his Goodness and Truth." Psalm 
cxlvi. Six stanzas ; the second and fifth excluded. The 
author wrote the first line of verse 3 thus, — 
" The Lord hath eyes to give the blind." 

The judicious alteration in the Hymn-book was made 
by John Wesley ; but while the thought belongs legi- 
timately to the Psalmist, must not the felicitous ex- 
pression of it be attributed to Pope, in the " Messiah f 



- All ye blind, behold ! 



He from thick films shall purge the visual ray, 
And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day" 

Hymn 263. "Let every tongue thy goodness speak." — Watts. 

" Mercy to Sufferers ; or, God hearing Prayer." 
Psalm cxlv, 14-21. Seven stanzas; the third and 
sixth omitted. 

Hymn 264. " Praise ye the Lord, 'tis good to raise." — Watts. 

" The Divine Nature, Providence, and Grace." Psalm 
cxlvii. Eight stanzas ; the second and fourth rejected. 
The author wrote the last line, verse 5, "All are too mean," 
&c, not " Are all," as in the Hymn-book. It is an 
answer to a series of interrogatories propounded in the 
preceding lines of the stanza, and the sense requires 
that the line should be read as originally written. 

Hymn 265. " Glory be to God on high."— C. Wesley. 

" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
good-will toward men." Luke ii, 14. 

Hymn 266. " Before Jehovah's awful throne."— Watts. 

"Praise to our Creator." Psalm c. The first and 
fourth stanzas omitted ; the former runs thus, — 



320 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. ^ 

" Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice, 

Let every land his name adore ; 

The British isles shall send the noise 

Across the ocean to the shore." 

The second stanza, which forms the first in the Hymn- 
book, opens thus, — 

" Nations attend before his throne 
With solemn fear, with sacred joy." 

This noble hymn, which has become a universal favor- 
ite, is the breathing of a soul thoroughly imbued with 
the spirit of the Scriptures. Every line of the hymn 
is an embodiment of some truth contained in the sacred 
volume. 

Hymn 267. " Salvation! O the joyful sound!"— Watts. 

" Salvation." Neither the third verse, nor the cho- 
rus, of this hymn, as it stands in the Hymn-book, was 
written by Watts ; but the following stanza, the second, 

was : — 

" Buried in sorrow and in sin, 
At hell's dark door we lay ; 
But we arise by grace divine 
To see a heavenly day." 

Hymn 268. "From all that dwell below the skies."— Watts. 

" Praise to God from all Nations." Psa. cxvii. The 
second double stanza is not Watts's. 

This hymn is a fine companion for 266. It is a soul- 
stirring appeal to the people of every land to sing the 
Creator's praise, and the Redeemer's name. Men are 
exhorted to take up the lofty theme, and proclaim the 
great salvation until the world shall be filled with loud- 
est praise. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 321 

Hymn 269. " Come, let us join our cheerful songs." — Watts. 

" Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, worshiped by all 
the Creation." Rev. v, 11-13. One stanza, the fourth, 
excluded : it is not worth retaining. This is a very- 
cheerful and spirited poem, and a general favorite 
among true Christians. It represents the whole intelli- 
gent creation as united in the delightful work of prais- 
ing the Lamb of God, the Saviour of sinners. 

Hymn 270. " The God of Abr'am praise," 

Hymn 660. " Though nature's strength decay." — Olivers. 

It is much to be regretted that this sublime hymn 
has been divided in the Hymn-book, and that all its 
parts are not placed together. Although in conception 
and execution one of the most magnificent compositions 
in the collection, its -superior merits are by most readers 
neither seen nor appreciated. James Montgomery says 
of this hymn, " There is not in our language a lyric of 
more majestic style, more elevated thought, or more 
glorious imagery : its structure, indeed, is unattractive ; 
and, on account of the short lines, occasionally uncouth ; 
but, like a stately pile of architecture, severe and simple 
in design, it strikes less on the first view than after deli- 
berate examination ; when its proportions become more 
graceful, its dimensions expand, and the mind itself 
grows greater in contemplating it." — Christian Psalmist. 

It was originally published in a pamphlet of eight 
pages, a copy of which is before the writer : the title 
runs thus : " An Hymn to the God of Abraham. In 
Three Parts. Adapted to a celebrated Air sung by the 
Priest Signior Leoni, &c, at the Jews' Synagogue, in 
London. By Thomas Olivers. The twelfth edition. 
/ am the God of Abraham. Exod. iii, 6. He is thy 
14* 



322 METHODIST HYMNOLOOY. 

God. Deut. x, 21. Then the Levites said, Stand up 
and praise tlve Lord your God for ever and ever. Neh. 
ix, 5. / will sing praises unto my God while I have my 
oeing. Psa. cxlvi, 2. London: 1*782." 

To this copy there are appended foot-notes referring 
to the passages of Scripture illustrated in the hymn, 
amounting to no less than sixty. And to the following 
line in verse 3, third part, 

" And ' holy, holy, holy,' cry," 
there is a note, saying, " Sing the following parts of this 
verse slow and solemn." 

Hymn 271. " My Saviour, my almighty Friend." — Watts. 

" Christ, our Strength and Righteousness." Psalm 
lxxi, 14, &c. Three stanzas, 4, 5, and 6, rejected. The 
author wrote the second verse thus, — 

" Thou art my everlasting trust, 
Thy goodness I adore ; 
And since I knew thy graces first, 
I speak thy glories more." 

Hymn 272. " This, this is the God we adore." — Hart. 

This double stanza is the last one of a hymn contain- 
ing seven, founded on Deut. xiii, 1, &c, " If there arise 
among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams," com- 
mencing, 

" No prophet, nor dreamer of dreams, 
No master of plausible speech," &c. 

The last two lines of the hymn, as it stands in the 
Hymn-book, are finely illustrative of a Christian's confi- 
dence in God, — 

" We'll praise Him for all that is past, 
And trust him for all that's to come." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 323 

Hymn 273. " thou God of my salvation." 

We have not been able to ascertain the authorship of 
tins hymn. It is found in the " Pocket Hymn-book," 
published by Bishops Coke and Asbury, the twenty- 
first edition of which was issued in 1*797. 

Hymn 274. "How happy every child of grace." — C. Wesley. 

A Funeral Hymn. Mr. John Wesley considered this 
one of his brother's finest compositions ; only a part of 
which, however, has been transferred to the Hymn- 
book, embracing verses 1, 1, and 8. The omitted stan- 
zas are as follow : — 

" A stranger in the world below, 

I calmly sojourn here ; 
Nor can its happiness or woe 

Provoke my hope or fear ; 
Its evils in a moment end, 

But, ! the bliss to which I tend 
Eternally shall last. 

" To that Jerusalem above 

With singing I repair; 
While in the flesh, my hope and love, 

My heart and soul, are there : 
There my exalted Saviour stands, 

My merciful High Priest, 
And still extends his wounded hands 

To take me to his breast. 

" What is there here to court my stay, 

Or hold me back from home, 
While angels beckon me away, 

And Jesus bids me come 1 
Shall I regret my parted friends, 

Still in the vale confined ? 
Nay, but whene'er my soul ascends, 

They will not stay behind. 



324 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" The race we all are running now ; 

And if I first attain, 
They too their willing head shall bow, 

They too the prize shall gain. 
Now on the brink of death we stand : 

And if I pass before, 
They all shall soon escape to laud, 

And hail me on the shore. 

" Then let me suddenly remove, 

That hidden life to share ; 
I shall not lose my friends above, 

But more enjoy them there. 
There we in Jesus' praise shall join, 

His boundless love proclaim, 
And solemnize in songs divine 

The marriage of the Lamb." 

A most encouraging hymn is this to the Christian 
believer. It tells him, in language that touches his 
heart, that this earth is not his abiding place, but that 
his home is in heaven. His eye of faith is directed to 
a " country far from mortal sight," and with that eye, 
quickened by the inspiration of the song, he sees the 
" land of rest, the saints' delight," and feels that it is " a 
heaven prepared for him" The reader is led on through 
the rich vision of the poet, almost realizing at every 
advance, in the stirring lines, the ecstasy of delight in 
which his senses must have been enwrapped when his 
mind was bending in its rush of burning thought. The 
climax of the last stanza in the Hymn-book is exqui- 
sitely wrought. It represents a soul in its union with 
the body, filled with the fullness of God and heaven, 
and ready to break from its prison-house of flesh, and 
fly to the glorious home of its anticipated joy. And 
the soul thus full of heaven is said to want but a little 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 325 

more of that which fills it, to break the vessel in which 
it is contained, that it may go to grasp the God it 
seeks. And having gained the heaven for which it 
hoped and longed, the ransomed spirit finds sufficient 
employment in gazing with rapturous awe upon Him 
through whom the blessing was obtained, and in shout- 
ing and wondering at his grace through all eternity. 

Hymn 275. " Head of the church triumphant." — C. Wesley. 

Last of " Hymns for Times of Trouble, for the year 
1745 " — the year of the rebellion in Scotland. 

Hymn 276. " Almighty Maker, God."— Watts. 

" Sincere Praise :" a lyric poem of eleven stanzas ; 
verses 2, 6, Y, 8, and 9, omitted. There are a few verbal 
alterations, which do not affect the sense. The first 
omitted verse reads thus, — 

" Nature in every dress 

Her humble homage pays, 
And finds a thousand ways t' express 
Thine unassembled praise." 

Hymn 277. " Eejoice evermore with angels above." — C. Wesley. 
A " Redemption Hymn." 

Hymn 278. " Ye simple souls that stray." — J. Wesley. 

Written after a riot. There has been some con- 
troversy about the authorship of this hymn. Dr. White- 
head says it was written by Charles, Mr. Moore, by 
John, Wesley ; and further remarks : — " It has been 
denied that Mr. John Wesley was the author of this 
hymn. I must still think that he was : I believe I was 
not misinformed. There is, I think, also some internal 
evidence. The hymn has the purity, strength, and so- 



326 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

briety, of both the brothers ; but it seems to want the 
poetical vis animi of Charles." In reference, however, 
to the occasion on which the hymn was composed, both 
Mr. Moore and Mr. Burgess — who diners with Mr. 
Moore as to the authorship — are mistaken. Mr. Burgess 
says : " This noble hymn is partly founded on the sen- 
timents of an apocryphal writer, (Wisdom of Solomon, 
v, 3-5,) and was composed after some of the riots that 
were excited at Cork, by the infamous Butler and his 
mob, in 1749." The fact is, the hymn was published 
three years previous to the time here given as the date 
of its origin, in the "Redemption Hymns," the first 
edition of which was issued in 1746. 

Hy.ms 279. " Oft I in my heart have said." — C. Wesley. 

" But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh 
on this wise, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend 
into heaven ?" Bom. x, G, <fcc. The latter half of the 
hymn omitted. 

Hymn 280. " Hark ! how the gospel trumpet sounds !"— Medley. 

"The Mission of Christ," embracing twelve stanzas, 
of which our hymn comprises the fifth, tenth, ele- 
venth, and twelfth, and every stanza altered. As a 
specimen of the genuine original, take the first verse : — 
" Hark, how the gospel trumpet sounds, 
That free and sovereign grace abounds ; 
That Jesus, by his precious blood, 
Is bringing his elect to God, 
And guides them safely on the road 
To endless day." 

Hymn 281. "Hail ! thou once despised Jesus."— Dalcewell. 

The second line, verse 1, should read, " Thou Gali- 
lean King ;" and the alteration in the third line spoils 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 32? 

both the antithesis and the rhyme. The author wrote 
the line thus, — 

" Thou didst suffer to release us." 
We can present little but conjecture as to the author- 
ship of this hymn. " There is reason to believe," says 
Mr. Burgess, " that this fine hymn was composed by 
the venerable John Bake well, of Greenwich. He wrote 
many hymns ; and in his own family circle this was 
always regarded as one of the number. It appeared 
in one edition of the general Hymn-book, published 
many years ago ; but was afterward omitted." It has 
since been introduced into the Supplement appended to 
that work. 

Hymn 282. " O what shall I do my Saviour to praise." 

C. Wesley. 
To be used as " A Thanksgiving " hymn. 

Hymn 283. " Into thy gracious hands I fall." — J. Wesley. 

A translation from the German of Dessler, being 
the latter part of hymn 185. 

Hymn 284. " The day of Christ, the day of God."— C. Wesley. 
" That ye may be sincere, and without offense, till 
the day of Christ." Phil, i, 10, and 2 Pet. iii, 12. 

Hymn 285. " Lo ! God is here ! let us adore." — J. Wesley. 

A translation from the German of Gerhard Ters- 
teegen. "A hymn," says Mr. Love, "that I should 
be glad to hear sung at the opening of divine service 
every sabbath morning. I can never read that hymn 
without a deep feeling of adoration. ' Lo ! God is 
here ! ' His solemn and gracious presence is felt at 
once." 



328 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Lo ! God is here ! let us adore, 

And own how dreadful is this place." 

"And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, 
Surely the Lord is in this place. And he was afraid, 
and said, How dreadful is this place ! this is none other 
but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." 
Gen. xxviii, 16, 17. 

Hymn 286. " Young men and maidens, raise." — C. Wesley. 

From " Hymns for Children." " Young men and 
maidens, old men and children, let them praise the 
name of the Lord." Psa. cxlviii, 12, 13. 

Hymn 287. " And can it be that I should gain." — C. Wesley. 

This hymn, entitled "Free Grace," was written by 
the author in 1738, on the subject of his own conver- 
sion; and either this, or hymn 197, was sung on the 
occasion of Mr. John Wesley obtaining the same great 
blessing. " Charles was not present," says Mr. Jack- 
son, " at the meeting where his brother entered into 
the glorious liberty of the sons of God. He was con- 
fined to his room in Little-Britain, and had spent the 
whole day in a most devout and pious manner. ' At 
eight o'clock,' says he, ' I prayed by myself for love, with 
some feeling, and assurance of feeling more. Toward 
ten my brother was brought in triumph by a troop of our 
friends, and declared, " I believe ! " We sung the hymn 
with great joy, and parted with prayer.' " One stanza, 
the fifth, has been omitted : — 

" Still the small inward voice I hear, 
That whispers all my sins forgiven ; 
Still the atoning blood is near, 
That quench'd the wrath of hostile heaven ; 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 329 

I feel the life his wounds impart, 
I feel my Saviour in my heart," 

Hymn 288. "Jesus, take all the glory." — C. Wesley. 
A "Thanksgiving" hymn. 

Hymn 289. " Jesus, thy blood and righteousness." — J. Wesley. 

" The Believer's Triumph ;" a translation from the 
German of Count Zinzendorf, embracing twenty-four 
stanzas. Our hymn is composed of verses 1, 2, 6, 1, 
and 8 ; besides these, the Wesleyan collection contains 
verses 12, 13, 21, 22, and 24. They are as follow : — 

" When from the dust of death I rise, 
To claim my mansion in the skies, 
Even then, — this shall be all my plea, 
Jesus hath lived, hath died for me. 

" Thus Abraham, the friend of God, 
Thus all heaven's armies bought with blood, 
Saviour' of sinners Thee proclaim 5 
Sinners, of whom the chief I am. 

" Jesus, be endless praise to thee, 
Whose boundless mercy hath for me, 
For me, and all thy hands have made, 
An everlasting ransom paid. 

" Ah ! give to all thy servants, Lord, 
With power to speak thy gracious word ; 
That all, who to thy wounds will flee, 
May find eternal life in thee. 

" Thou God of power, thou God of love, 
Let the whole world thy mercy prove ! 
Now let thy word o'er all prevail ; 
Now take the spoils of death and hell." 

" Mr. Wesley's translation," says Mr. Love, " is worthy 
of the theme, and constitutes one of the finest hvmns 



330 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

in the collection. Observe, in the fifth stanza, what a 
distinct allusion is made to Ms favorite doctrine of 
universal redemption ; and what an outburst it contains 
of Christian feeling ! How opposed to the contracted 
doctrine which consigns myriads of souls to perdition, 
because for them Christ never died ! " 

Hymn 290. " A Fountain of life and of grace." — C. Wesley. 

" Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life 
freely." Rev. xxii, 17. 

Hymn 291. " "What am I, O thou glorious Lord."— C. Wesley. 
A hymn " For Believers." 

Hymn 292. "Meet and right it is to sing." — C. Wesley. 
" For the Watchnight." 

Hymn 293. " Father, in whom we live." — C. Wesley. 
" To the Trinity." 

Hymn 294. Jesus is our common Lord." — C. Wesley. 

" Receiving a Christian Friend." The first two qua- 
trains omitted : — 

" Welcome, friend, in that great Name 
Whence our every blessing flows ! 
Enter, and increase the flame 
Which in all our bosoms glows. 

" Sent of God. we thee receive : 
Hail the providential guest ! 
If in Jesus we believe, 
Let us on thy mercy feast." 

The author wrote the fourth line of verse 2 thus, — 
" Till we join the host above." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 331 

Hymn 295. "O 'tis delight, without alloy." — Watts. 

A lyric poem, entitled, " Ascending to Him in Hea- 
ven." The doctor wrote the first line, " 'Tis pure 
delight," &c. 



Hymn 296. " The wisdom own'd by all thy sons." — C. ] 

" The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, 
and the knowledge of the holy ones is understanding." 
Prov. ix, 10. 

Hymn 297. " God of Israel's faithful three." — C. Wesley. 

"The Three Children in the Fiery Furnace," 
Dan. iii. The second double stanza excluded : — 

" Lo ! on dangers, deaths, and snares, 
I every moment tread, 
Hell without a veil appears, 

And flames around my head ; 
Sin increases more and more, 

Sin in all its strength returns, 
Seven times hotter than before 
The fiery furnace burns." 

Hymn 298. " The spacious firmament on high." — Addison. 

Psalm xix, 1-4. " Aristotle says, that should a man 
live under ground, and there converse with works of 
art and mechanism, and should afterward be brought 
up into the open day, and see the several glories of 
the heaven and earth, he would immediately pronounce 
them the works of such a Being as we define God to 
be. The Psalmist has very beautiful strokes of poetry 
to this purpose in that exalted strain, 'The heavens 
declare the glory of God ; and the firmament showeth 
his handiwork. One day telleth another ; and one 
night ccrtifieth another. There is neither speech nor 



332 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

language ; but their voices are heard among them. 
Their sound is gone out into all lands ; and their words 
into the ends of the world.' As such a bold and 
sublime manner of thinking furnishes very noble matter 
for an ode, the reader may see it wrought into the fol- 
lowing one : — 

' The spacious firmament on high,' " &c* 
This, perhaps, is the most admired hymn of the five 
by Addison. 

Hymn 299. "Jesus comes with all his grace." — C. Wesley. 

" For those that wait for Full Redemption :" eleven 
stanzas ; the fifth, sixth, and seventh, omitted. 

Hymn 300. " O Jesus, full of truth and grace." — C. Wesley. 

" Waiting for the Promise :" six verses omitted ; the 
second, third, fourth, seventh, ninth, and tenth, which 
last forms the fifth verse in the Wesleyan collection, 
and reads thus, — 

" Though nature give my God the lie, 
I all his grace and truth shall know; 
I shall, the helpless creature I, 
Shall perfect holiness below." 

Hymn 301. " Come, SaA-iour, Jesus, from above." — J. Wesley. 

A translation from the French, entitled, " Renouncing 
all for Christ," containing ten stanzas. Those excluded 
are the fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth : the seventh and 
eighth have been inserted in the English Hymn-book, 
and are as follow : — 

" Wealth, honor, pleasure, and what else, 
This short-enduring world can give, 

* See " The Spectator? No. 465. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 333 

Tempt as ye will, my soul repels, 
To Christ alone resolved to live. 

" Thee I can love, and thee alone, 

With pure delight and inward bliss : 
To knoAv thou tak'st me for thine own, 
what a happiness is this !" 

Hymn 302. " The thing my God doth hate."— C. Wesley. 

" do not this abominable thing that I hate." Jer. 
xliv, 4. " I will write my law in their hearts." Jer. 
xxxi, 33. Verse 1 is founded upon the former, and 2 
and 3, upon the latter, passage of Scripture. There is a 
very striking thought in the third verse, — 

" Soul of my soul, remain ; 
Who did'st for all fulfill, 
In me, Lord, fulfill again 
Thy heavenly Father's will." 

Christ may, indeed, be regarded as the soul of the 
believer's soul ; for the believer has Christ in him, Christ 
dwelling in his heart by faith ; and the life he now 
lives is by faith in the Son of God. " Christ and the 
true believer become, as it were, identified ; for he that 
is joined to the Lord, is one spirit. As our mortal bo- 
dies, therefore, are animated, guided, and governed, by 
the immaterial and immortal principle residing within, 
so in the believer, that inward principle is animated, 
guided, and governed, by the indwelling Saviour ; it is, 
so to speak, Christ who thinks, and feels, and acts, in 
him." The same fine thought may be found in Sir 
Richard Blackmore's Ode to the Divine Being : — 

" Bless'd object of my love intense, 

I thee my joy, my treasure call, 

My portion, my reward immense, 

Soul of my soul, my life, my all." 



334 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 303. " O for a heart to praise my God." — C. Wesley. 

"Make me a clean heart, God." Psalm li, 10. 
" Here is, undoubtedly," says Mr. Fletcher, " an evan- 
gelical prayer for the love which restores the soul to a 
state of sinless rest and evangelical perfection." Verse 7 
is scarcely more than a poetical version of Rev. ii, li : 
" To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the 
hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in 
the stone a new name written." 

" Fruit of thy gracious lips, on me 
Bestow that peace unknown ; 
The hidden manna, and the tree 
Of life, and the white stone." 

Hymn 304. " Thou hidden Love of God, whose height." 

J. Wesley. 

A translation from the German of Gerhard Ters- 
teegen, entitled, " Divine Love." Mr. Wesley, in his 
" Plain Account of Christian Perfection," tells us he 
wrote this hymn while at Savannah, Georgia, in the 
year 1736, and quotes the following lines, of verse 4, to 
show what his religious sentiments and feelings then 
were, — 

" Is there a thing beneath the sun 

That strives with thee my heart to share ? 
Ah ! tear it thence, and reign alone, 
The Lord of every motion there !" 

Dr. Southey, in his Life of Wesley, connects these 
lines with a subject of quite a different character, 
namely, the love affair in which Mr. Wesley was in- 
volved when in this country, and thinks they were pro- 
bably written on that occasion. 

This hymn, remarks the author of " Records of Wes- 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 335 

leyan Life," is the pious contemplation of a soul seeking 
" for full redemption," and every verse exhibits a deep 
self-acquaintance, professes a total self-renunciation, or 
breathes an ardent desire after holiness of heart. When 
Mr. Wesley made his translation he omitted two stanzas, 
4 and 5, of the original German, which are supplied in 
a version of the hymn appended to the Rev. Samuel 
Jackson's translated Life of the German author, Ter- 
steegen. They are here annexed : — 

" My own endeavors are in vain ; 

From self-attempts Love turns away ; 
A gaze, too ardent, gives her pain,* 

And will not suffer her to stay. 
Mine eyes against each object close, 
And bring me, Love, to thy repose. 

" What is there more that hinders me 
From ent'ring on thy promised rest — 
Abiding there substantially, 

And being permanently bless'd ? 
O Love, my inmost soul expose, 
And every hind'rance now disclose." 



Hymn 305. "For ever here my rest shall be."— C. 

" Christ our Righteousness." First two quatrains 
omitted. Verse 3 is a paraphrase of the subjoined text : — 

" Wash me, but not my feet alone, 
My hands, my head, my heart." 

" And Peter said to him, Lord, dost thou wash my 
feet ? Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answer- 
ed him, If I wash thee not thou hast no part with me. 
Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but 
my hands and my head." John xiii, 6-9. 

* Solomon's Song vi, 5. 



336 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 306. " Jesus, my life, thyself apply." — C. Wesley. 
" Christ our Sanctification." Last stanza rejected. 

Hymn 307. " Holy Lamb, who thee receives." — J. Wesley. 
A translation from the German of Schindler. 

Hymn 308. " Jesus, thou art our King." — C. Wesley. 

" Hymn to Christ our King." Here, and in hymn 
30*7, we are taught to contemplate the Lord Jesus as 
sustaining the regal office, and to plead with him for 
the full establishment of his kingdom in the hearts of 
his followers, and the entire control and subjugation of 
all his enemies, among which are enumerated hell and 
death. 

Hymn 309. "Lord, I believe thy every word." — C. Wesley. 

"They that wait on the Lord shall renew their 
strength." Isaiah xl, 31. Fourteen stanzas : our hymn 
being composed of the first, second, third, fourth, ninth, 
and fourteenth. Of the excluded stanzas, 10, 11, 12, 
and 13, have been inserted in the Wesleyan collection, 
and are as follow : — 

" Faith to be heaFd Thou know'st I have, 
From sin to be made clean : 
Able thou art from sin to save, 
From all indwelling sin. 

" Surely thou canst, I do not doubt, 
Thou wilt, thyself impart ; 
The bond-woman's base son cast out, 
And take up all my heart. 

" I shall my ancient strength renew : 
The excellence divine 
(If thou art good, if thou art true) 
Throughout my soul shall shine. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 337 

" I shall, a weak and helpless worm, 
Through Jesus strengthening me, 
Impossibilities perform, 
And live from sinning free." 

" The Bond-woman's Base Son cast out :" " Where- 
fore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bond- woman 
and her son ; for the son of this bond- woman shall not 
be here with my son, even with Isaac." Gen. xxi, 10 ; 
Gal. iv, 30. 



Hymn 310. " Love divine, all loves excelling." — C. 

This, says Mr. Burgess, " is an admirable hymn on 
the value and importance of divine love — that love 
which is the fulfilling of the law, the sum and substance 
of all the commandments of God. And here in our 
petitions we are led forward delightfully from grace 
to grace, to perfect love, to full salvation, to final 
glory." 

In reference to the expression in the second verse — 
Let us find that second rest — Mr. Fletcher remarks, 
"Mr. Wesley says second rest, because an imperfect 
believer enjoys a first, inferior rest : if he did not, he 
would be no believer." And of the following fine — 
Take away the power of sinning — the same excellent 
author asks, "Is not this expression too strong? 
Would it not be better to soften it by saying, ' Take 
away the love of [or the bent to] sinning ?' Can God 
take away from us our power of sinning, without taking 
away our power of free obedience ?" Perhaps all that 
the poet meant is, " Take away all the remaining cor- 
ruption and depravity of our hearts, so that there may 
be nothing within that is likely to lead us into sin." It 
is probably because of that line, the whole verse has 
15 



338 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

been excluded in the late editions of the Wesleyan, 
Hymn-book. 

Hymn 311. " O that my load of sin were gone !" — C. Wesley. 

" Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest." Matt, xi, 28. Four- 
teen stanzas ; our hymn being composed of the first, 
fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth. In the English 
collection, the second stanza is also inserted : — 

" When shall mine eyes behold the Lamb ? 
The God of my salvation see ? 
Weary, O Lord, thou know'st I am ; 
Yet still I cannot come to thee." 

Hymn 312. "Light of life, seraphic fire." — C. Wesley. 

" For those that wait for Full Redemption :" three 
stanzas, the last omitted. 

Hymn 313. " God of all-redeeming grace." 

Hymn 314. " Let Him to whom we now belong." — C. Wesley. 

" On the Lord's Supper." — " Concerning the Sacri- 
fice of our Persons." The sentiments of these two 
hymns will be found to harmonize beautifully with the 
following passage from Dr. Brevint's " Christian Sacra- 
ment and Sacrifice :" — " But all that we have is Christ's 
by a further title, because we have given them with 
our own persons, by our own act and deed. So that 
all which we are, which we can give, even to the least 
vessel in our houses, is made holy in this one conse- 
cration." 

Hymn 315. "Behold the servant of the Lord !"— C. Wesley. 

This excellent and truly devout hymn is entitled, 
" An Act of Devotion," and was originally published 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 339 

by Mr. John Wesley, at the end of the first part of his 
" Further Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion," 
which is dated December 22, 1744; but that the 
authorship is correctly given to his brother Charles, is 
certified by the fact of the hymn being found in the 
first volume of his " Hymns and Sacred Poems," pub- 
lished in 1749. Thus we see how intimately these two 
remarkable men were united in their literary, as well as 
ministerial, efforts to promote the spread of vital Chris- 
tianity; there being many other instances which could 
be cited of a similar character. 

Hymn 316. " Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." — C. Wesley. 

Verses 2, 3, 4, and 5, of this hymn, beautifully express 
the language of a believer saved fully from his sins, and 
devoted wholly to the service of Christ. No other can 
adopt the sentiments of those lines as his own ; but 

K Happy beyond description he " 
who can thus, in truth, appropriate them. 



Hymn 317. "Jesus, my Truth, my Way." — C. 

" For Believers." Four quatrains, or two double 
stanzas, 3 and 4, omitted ; neither is worth preserving. 

Hymn 318. " My God, I know, I feel thee mine." — C. Wesley. 

"Against Hope, believing in Hope." Rom. iv, 18. 
Twelve stanzas, the three composing hymn 359 being 
part of the same poem ; one stanza rejected. 

Hymn 319. " What now is my object and aim ?" — C. Wesley. 

"And now, Lord, what is my hope?" Psalm 
xxxix, 8. " My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for 
the living God." Psalm xlii, 2. 



340 METHODIST H7MN0L0GY. 

Hymn 320. " Ever fainting with desire." — C. Wesley. 

" A Prayer for Holiness." Ten verses ; the third, 
fourth, fifth, and sixth, omitted. The fourth reads 
thus, — 

" Gifts, alas, cannot suffice, 
And comforts all are vain, 
While one evil thouglit can rise, 

I am not bom again : 
Still I am not as my Lord, 

Thy holy will I do not prove: 
Help me, Saviour; speak the word, 
And perfect me in love." 

Hymn 321. "Jesus, thy boundless love tome." — J. Wesley. 

A translation from the German of Paul Gerhard, 
entitled, " Living by Christ," comprising sixteen stan- 
zas. Of those omitted, take one as a specimen : — 

" What in Thy love possess I not ? 
My star by night, my sun by day. 
My spring of life when parch'd by drought, 

My wine to cheer, my bread to stay, 
My strength, my shield, my safe abode, 
My robe before the throne of God." 

Hymn 322. " Saviour of the sin-sick soul." — C. Wesley. 

" For those that wait for Full Redemption." The 
former half of the hymn excluded ; ours commencing 
with the third double stanza. 

The repetition of part of the foregoing in every 
second line of verses 3 and 4 is no less a beauty than 
a peculiarity in the structure of Charles Wesley's 
poetiy; and the antithesis in the first two fines of 
verse 3, and in the last two of verse 4, taken in con- 
nection with the reiteration of words, renders these two 
stanzas among the most remarkable of nny in the 



METHODIST HYMNOIOGY. 341 

volume, both for singularity of expression and sublim- 
ity of sentiment. Hence they must be inserted here : — 

" Nothing less will I require, 
Nothing more can I desire : 
None but Christ to me be given ; 
None but Christ in earth or heaven. 

" O that I might now decrease ! 

that all I am might cease ! 
Let me into nothing fall ! 
Let my Lord be all in all !" 

Hymn 323. " Lord, I believe a rest remains." — C. Wesley. 

" There remaineth, therefore, a rest for the people 
of God." Heb. iv, 9. Seventeen stanzas ; the rejected 
ones are 3, 9, and 12. 

Hymn 324. " joyful sound of gospel grace." — C. Wesley. 

" The Spirit and the bride say, Come !" Bev. xxii, 
17. Twenty-two stanzas: of those omitted from our 
book, the two following, forming the second and ninth, 
have been inserted in the Wesleyan collection, one of 
which, the latter, may be found in the old Hymn-books 
used among us previous to the present book : — 

" This heart shall be his constant home 5 

1 hear his Spirit's ciy : 

' Surely,' he saith, ' I quickly come ;' 
He saith, who cannot lie. 

" Fulfill, fulfill my large desires, 
Large as infinity ; 
Give, give me all my soul requires, 
All, all that is in thee !" 

These stanzas are inferior to the rest of the hymn, and 
are not inserted here with any hope that they may 



342 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY." 

ever be introduced into the Hymn-book ; but because 
they make part of the hymn in the general collection 
of the Wesley an Church. The former, however, is not 
without merit, and contains a child-like expression of 
simple, unwavering faith, in the God of truth. Verse 6 : 
" Spring up, "Well, I ever cry." 
" Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, well," <fec. 
Num. xxi, 17. 

Hymn 325. "Jesus hath died that I might live." — C. Wesley. 

The last five of thirteen stanzas founded upon Acts 
xvi, 31 : "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
shalt be saved." 

Hymn 326. " Now, e'en now, I yield, I yield."— C. Wesley. 

" When shall it once be ?" Jer. xiii, 27. " Is not 
my word like a fire ?" Jer. xxiii, 29. Verse 1 founded 
upon the former, and 2, upon the latter, text. 

Hymn 327. " Come, thou omniscient Son of man." — C. Wesley. 
Eight stanzas, entitled, " For any who think they 
have already attained." The author wrote the last line 
of the hymn thus, — 

" And perfectly like thee." 
The omitted stanzas are the third, fifth, and sixth ; the 
last two are as follow : — 

" We would not of ourselves conceive 
Above what Thou hast done ; 
But still to thee the matter leave, 
Till thou shalt make it known. 

" We would not, Lord, ourselves conceal, 
But walk in open day ; 
We pray thee, all our sin reveal, 
And purge it all away." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 343 

The poet has varied the grammatical form of the third 
verse in the Hymn-book, the person being changed 
from the plural to the singular, which, we think, gives 
peculiar force to the sentiment expressed in the last 
two lines ; the whole verse being one of great excel- 
lence : — 

" Look through us with thine eyes of flame, 
The clouds and darkness chase ; 
And tell me what by sin I am, 
And what I am by grace." 

Hymn 328. " Saviour from sin, I wait to prove." — C. Wesley. 

The last part, excluding the third verse, of a poem, 
in four parts, entitled, " Groaning for Redemption." 
Hymn 600 is a portion of the same poem. 

Hymn 329. "An inward baptism of pure fire." — C. Wesley. 

Eight stanzas, founded upon Luke xii, 50 : "I have a 
baptism to be baptized with : and how am I straitened 
till it be accomplished !" Verses 4 and 8 omitted. 



Hymn 330. "Father, I dare believe."— C. 

Verses 1 and 2 are founded on Psalm cxxx, 8 : " He 
shall redeem Israel from all his sins;" and 3 and 4, on 
Jer. iv, 14, "0 Jerusalem, wash thine heart," <fec. 

Hymn 331. "O glorious hope of perfect love!" — C. Wesley. 

The conclusion of a long poem, of which hymns 69 
and 70 constitute a part, entitled, " Desiring to Love." 



Hymn 332. "I know that my Redeemer lives." — C. ' 

Twenty-three stanzas, entitled, " Rejoicing in Hope." 
Our hymn comprises verses 1, 2, 10, 15-1 7, 19-21. 
There are some sublime sentiments in verses 6 and 8, 



344 METHODIST IIYMXOLOGY. 

Hymn-book. Of those omitted, one stanza is here 
given as a specimen : — 

" When Thou dost in my heart appear, 
And love erects its throne, 
I then enjoy salvation here, 
And heaven on earth begun." 

Hymn 333. " Heavenly Father, sovereign Lord." — C. Wesley. 

A spirited paraphrase of the thirty-fifth chapter of 
Isaiah. 

Hymn 334. " Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb." — C. Wesley. 

The two stanzas composing this hymn are the last 
of fourteen, under the head, " Hymns for Children." 

Hymn 335. " Jesus, Source of calm repose." — J. Wesley. 

A translation from the German. This hymn throws 
much light on the subject of Christian perfection ; but 
contains a petition in verse 5, which perhaps needs 
some qualification : — 

" No anger may'st thou ever find, 
No pride in my unruffled mind." 

The same sentiment is also found in other hymns : 
thus, in hymn 596, — 

" Anger I no more shall feel." 
These expressions, says Mr. Burgess, " must be under- 
stood as referring only to sinful anger, and not as con 
demning, in an absolute and unqualified way, all angei 
whatsoever. For it is a divine precept, Be ye angry, 
and sin not ; and we are taught that our Redeemer, 
who knew no sin, did, on one occasion at least, mani- 
fest anger ; for lie looked round about on them with anger, 
being grieved for the hardness of their hearts. Hence 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 345 

we infer that there may be anger wholly unconnected 
with sin ; anger, involving nothing contrary to holiness ; 
anger thoroughly consistent with supreme love to God 
and universal benevolence to man. That which Scrip- 
ture condemns, and from which we should pray to be 
fully delivered, is that kind of anger which is violent 
and excessive, unreasonable and uncalled-for ; that kind 
of anger which is connected with malice, and under the 
influence of which, men desire and endeavor to inflict 
injury on those who have provoked them." 

Hymn 336. "Jesus, the Life, the Truth, the Way."— C. Wesley. 
"Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." 
Twelve stanzas, those composing our hymn being the 
first four : of the remainder, verses 6, 7, 11, and 12, 
have been inserted in the Wesleyan collection, and are 
as follow : — 

" "When Thou the work of faith hast wrought, 
I shall be pure within, 
Nor sin in deed, or word, or thought ; 
For angels never sin. 

" From thee no more shall I depart, 
No more unfaithful prove : 
But love thee with a constant heart; 
For angels always love. 



" I all thy holy will shall prove : 
I, a weak, sinful worm, 
When thee with all my heart I love, 
Shall all thy law perform. 

" The graces of my second birth 
To me shall all be given ; 
And I shall do thy will on earth, 
As angels do in heaven." 
15* 



346 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

Hymn 337. " Come, Lord, and claim me for thine own." 

C. Wesley. 

" The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right 
hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Psalm 
ex, 1 . Fifteen stanzas : our hymn commences at the 
seventh, and includes verses 8, 9, 12, 14, and 15. The 
author wrote the first stanza in our book thus, — 

" Come, Lord, and claim me for thine own, 
Saviour, thy right assert ! 
Come, gracious Lord, set up thy throne, 
And reign within my heart." 

And the last tw T o lines of verse 4 thus, — 



"My heart no longer gives the li( 
To my deceitful prayer." 



The lines substituted for these in the Hymn-book 
were written by Mr. John Wesley, but the alteration 
in the first verse was not made by him. 

Hymn 338. " "What ! never speak one evil word!" — C. Wesley. 

Verses 1 and 2 are founded on James hi, 2, "If 
any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man ;" 
3 and 4, on Psalm ciii, 3, " Who forgiveth all thine 
iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases." 

Hymn 339. " O Jesus, let thy dying cry." — C. Wesley. 

" Jesus cried !" Matt, xxvii, 46. "I will give you 
a heart of flesh." Ezek. xxxvi, 26. Verses 1 and 2 are 
an expansion of the former text ; and 3 and 4, of the 
latter. 

Hymn 340. " God of eternal truth and grace." — C. Wesley. 
Verses 1 and 2 are founded on Micah vii, 20, 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 347 

" Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy 
to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers 
from the days of old ;" 3 and 4, on Matt, xv, 28, " O 
woman, great is thy faith, — be it unto thee even as thou 
wilt ;" 5 and 6, on Mark ix, 23, " All things are possi- 
ble to him that belie veth." 

Hymn 341. " God of all power, and truth, and grace."— C. Wesley. 
" Pleading the Promise of Sanctification." Ezek. xxxv, 
25, &c. Twenty-eight stanzas, the whole of which may 
be found at the end of Mr. Wesley's fortieth sermon, 
the subject of which is, " Christian Perfection." This 
excellent hymn was a great favorite with both Mr. 
Wesley and Mr. Fletcher, who made good use of it in 
their controversies with the opponents of the Scripture 
doctrine of sanctification. Mr. Fletcher frequently 
quoted its stanzas, so richly laden with gospel truth and 
Christian experience. In his " Last Check to Antino- 
mianism," speaking of his opponent's opposition to 
Christian perfection, he says, it doubtless " chiefly 
springs from his inattention to our definition of it, which 
I once more sum up in these comprehensive lines of 
Mr. Wesley : — 

' let me gain perfection's height ! 
let me into nothing fall ! 
As less than nothing in thy sight, 
And feel that Christ is all in all !' " 

Hymn 342. " Since the Son hath made me free." — C. Wesley. 

A dilatation of John xvi, 24 : "■ Ask, and ye shall re- 
ceive, that your joy may be full." Twelve stanzas ; 
our hymn being composed of verses 6, 8, 9, 11, 
and 12. 



348 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 343. " Jesus! at thy feet we wait." — C Wesley. 

" For those that wait for Full Redemption." Four 
stanzas omitted. 

Hymn 344. " What is our calling's glorious hope." — C. Wesley. 
The last six of fourteen stanzas, founded on Titus ii, 
14 : " Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem 
us from all iniquity." Ver. 2 : — 

" I wait till he shall touch me clean." 

" And behold, there came a leper, and worshiped him, 
saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 
And Jesus put forth his hand and touched him, saying, 
I will; be thou clean." Matt, viii, 2, 3. 

Hymn 345. " None is like Jeshurun's God." — C. Wesley. 

A paraphrase and enlargement of the last four verses 
of the thirty-third chapter of Deuteronomy'. "There is 
none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon 
the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the 
sky," <fcc. The last three stanzas excluded. 

Hymn 346. :: He wills that I should holy be."— C. Wesley. 

" This is the will of God, even your sanctification." 
1 Thess. iv, 3. " The Lord will circumcise thine heart, 
and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul." Deut. xxx, 6. 
Verses 1 and 2 are founded upon the former, and 3 and 
4, upon the latter, text. 

Hymn 347. "Jesus, thy loving Spirit alone." — C. Wesley. 

Verses 1 and 2 are founded on Psalm cxliii, 10, 
" Let thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the land of 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 349 

righteousness;" 3 and 4, on Matt, xiv, 36, "As many 
as touched were made perfectly whole." 

Hymn 348. "Jesus, my Lord, I cry to thee." — C. Wesley. 

Verses 1 and 2 are founded on Mark, ix, 25, "I 
charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into 
him ;" 3 and 4, on Deut. xxxii, 39, " I kill, and I make 
alive ;" 5 and 6, on Isa. xxvii, 3, " I will water it every 
moment." 



Hymn 349. " Thou God that answerest by fire." — C. 

" The fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt 
sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, 
and licked up the water." " The Lord, he is the God : 
the Lord, he is the God." 1 Kings xviii, 38, 39. Verses 

1 and 4 are founded on the former, and 5 and 6, on the 
latter, passage. 

Hymn 350. " Come, my God, the promise seal." — C. Wesley. 
"What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, be- 
lieve that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." 
Mark xi, 24. 

Hymn 351. " Quicken'd with our immortal Head." — C. Wesley. 

" God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of 

power, and of love, and of a sound mind [Gr. sobriety."] 

2 Tim. i, 7. 

Hymn 352. " When, my Saviour, shall I be." — C. Wesley. 

The four verses composing this hymn are the first 
and last of five double stanzas, entitled, " Submission." 

Hymn 353. "Jesus, in whom the Godhead's rays." — C. Wesley. 
"He shall save his people from their sins." Matt. 



350 METHODIST HYMN0L0GY. 

i, 21. The last two lines of verse 4 were written by- 
Mr. J. Wesley. Two stanzas, the second and sixth, 
omitted : — 

" Wrathful, impure, and proud, I am, 
Nor constancy, nor strength, I have ; 
But thou, Lord, art still the same, 
And hast not lost thy power to si 

"Pour bat thy blood upon the flame, 
Mi ■ k. and dispassionate, and mild, 
The leopard sinks into a lamb, 
And I become a little child.*' 

The Leopard sink* into a Lamb, "The leopard shall 
lie down with the kid." Isa. xi, 0. 

IIymx 354. " Jesus, to thee my heart I bow."-V. Wesley. 

A translation from the German, entitled, " Subjection 
to Christ," 

Hymn 353. - : If now I have acceptance found." — C. Wesley. 

Six stanzas, 7-12, of a poem containing fourteen, en- 
titled, " After a Recovery from Sickness." The first 
stanza reads thus, — 

" Thy will be done, thy name be blest ! 
I am not. gracious Lord, my own ; 
Whate'er thy wisdom .-ends is best, 

Thy name be praised, thy will be done." 

Hymn 356. " come and dwell in me." — C. Wesley. 

Verses 1 and 2 are founded on 2 Cor. iii, 17, 
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty;" 
3, on v, 17, "Old things are passed away; behold, all 
things are become new;" 4 and 5, on Heb. xi, 5, 
" Before his translation he had this testimony, that he 
pleased God." The author wrote the first two lines 
of verse 2 thus, — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 351 

" The seed of sin's disease, 
Spirit of health, remove." 

Hymn 357. " Come, O Thou greater than our heart." — C. Wesley. 
Hymns 357, 438, 464, are parts two, three, and four, 
of a poem in four parts, entitled, " He that believeth 
shall not make haste." Isa. xxvhi, 16. From hymn 
357 four verses, 2, 3, 6, and 7, have been excluded. 

Hymn 358. " But can it be that I should prove." — C. Wesley. 

" In Temptation ;" one stanza, the third, omitted. 
It reads thus, — 

" No more shall sin its sway maintain, 
No longer in my members reign, 

Or captivate my heart ; 
Upheld by Thy victorious grace, 
I walk henceforth in all thy ways, 
And never will depart." 

Hymn 359. " When shall I see the welcome hour." — C. Wesley. 
"Against Hope, believing in Hope." Part of hymn 
318. 



Hymn 360. " Fountain of life and all my joy." — C. 

This is composed of stanzas 4, 7, 8, 10, of a poem 
containing ten, entitled, "On his Birthday." The 
ninth stanza reads thus, — 

" Born from above, I soon shall praise 
Thy goodness with a thankful tongue, 
Record the victory of thy grace, 

And teach a list'ning world the song ; 
While many, whom to thee I turn, 
Shall bless the day that I was born." 
Verse 2, — 

" Though in my flesh I feci the thorn." 

"There was given me a thorn in the flesh, the mes- 
senger of Satan, to buffet me." 2 Cor. xii, 7. 



352 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

Hymn 361. " Come, Holy Ghost, all-quick'ning fire." — C. Wesley. 
" To God the Sanctifier." The author wrote the fifth 
line of verse 4 thus, — 

" Hate, envy, jealousy, be gone ;" 

and so the sense of the petition requires it to read. 
Verses 3 and 4 beautifully inculcate the doctrine of the 
" sanctification of the affections," involving the extinc- 
tion of all evil passions. 

Hymx 362. " Father of Jesus Christ my Lord."— C. Wesley. 

"Therefore it is of faith, that it might be. by grace; 
to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed ; 
not to that only which is of the law, but to that also 
which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of 
us all," &c. Rom. iv, 16-22. Nine stanzas omitted, 
namely, 4, 6, 10-12, 16-19. This hymn is in C. W< 8- 
ley's most impassioned manner, especially verses 7-9. 

Hymn 363. l; Deepen the wounds thy hands have made." 

C. Wesley. 

"I wound, and I heal." Deut. xxxii, 39. "I have 
seen an end of all perfection. The exceeding broad 
commandment." [llcb.~\ Psalm cxix, 96. Verses 1 and 
2 are founded on the former, 3 and 4 on the latter, 
text 

Hymn 364. % " Give me the enlarged desire." — C. Wesley. 

"Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." Psalm 
lxxxi, 10. This hymn, says a writer in the Wesleyan 
Magazine, inculcates the doctrine of the " sanctification 
of the understanding." 

Mr. Benson, in his Life of that holy man, Mr. Fletcher 
— upon whom Dr. Southey has pronounced the following 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 353 

eulogy : " A man of rare talents, and rarer virtue : no 
age or country has ever produced a man of more fer- 
vent piety, or more perfect charity ; no church has ever 
possessed a more apostolic minister " — has an allusion 
to the stanza which composes this hymn, which, we 
hope, will not be considered out of place here. Mr. 
Fletcher was, at the time referred to, president, and 
Mr. Benson head master, of Lady Huntingdon's College 
at Trevecka, for the education of young men for the 
ministry. Speaking of Mr. F.'s devotional habits, Mr. 
Benson exclaims, " My heart kindles while I write. 
Here it was that I saw, shall I say, an angel in human 
flesh? I should not far exceed the truth if I said 
so. . . . After speaking awhile in the school-room, he 
used frequently to say, ' As many of you as are athirst 
for this fullness of the Spirit, follow me into my room.' 
On this, many of us have instantly followed him, and 
there continued for two or three hours, wrestling like 
Jacob for the blessing, praying one after another till 
we could bear to kneel no longer. This was not done 
once or twice, but many times. And I have sometimes 
seen him on these occasions, once in particular, so filled 
with the love of God, that he could contain no more, 
but cried out, ' my God, withhold thy hand, or the 
vessel will burst.' But he afterward told me he was 
afraid he had grieved the Spirit of God ; and that he 
ought rather to have prayed that the Lord would have 
enlarged the vessel, or have suffered it to break, that 
the soul might have had no further bar or interruption 
to its enjoyment of the Supreme Good. In this he was 
certainly right. For, as Mr. Wesley has observed, 
the proper prayer on such an occasion would have 
been, — 



354 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

' Give me the enlarged desire, 

And open, Lord, my soul, 
Thy own fullness to require, 

And comprehend the whole ! 
Stretch my faith's capacity 

Wider and yet wider still : 
Then with all that is in thee 

My ravish'd spirit fill.' " 

Hymn 365. " Come, Holy Ghost, all quick'ning fire." — C. Wesley. 
This is entitled "To the Holy Ghost," and refers to 
his divine operations in the hearts of believers. Is there 
not a plethora of meaning in verse 4 ? 

■ My peon . my Ufa my comfort, Thou, 
My incisure, and my all thou art! 
True witness of my sonship now, 

Engraving pardon on my heart ; 
Seal of my sins in Christ forgiven, 
Earnest of love, and pledge of heaven." 

Hymn 366. " Father of everlasting grace." — C. Wesley. 

First of "Hymns for Whitsunday," containing eight 
stanzas ; second to fifth omitted. The second stanza 
reads thus, — 

" Thou hast the prophecy fulfill'd, 
The grand orig'nal compact seal*d, 

For which thy word and oath were join'd : 
The promise to our fallen head, 
To every child of Adam, made, 
Is now pour'd out on all mankind." 



Hymn 367. M I want the Spirit of power within." — C. 

" Groaning for the Spirit of Adoption." The first 
stanza excluded. 

Hymn 368. " Love, I languish at thy stay !"— C. Wesley. 
" Desiring to love." This fine hymn presents to our 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 355 

view, says Mr. Burgess, " in a great variety of figures 
and images, the nature and the blessedness of pure and 
undefiled religion. Its very essence is love — the love 
of God shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost 
given to us ; it is Christ in us, the hope of glory ; and 
he who secures this religion, will find in it all that he 
needs, for body and for soul, for time and for eternity." 

Hymn 369. " great mountain, who art thou 1" — C. Wesley. 

"Who art thou, great mountain? Before Zerub- 
babel thou shalt become a plain : and he shall bring 
forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, crying, 
Grace, grace, unto it," &c. Zech. iv, 7-10. First two 
stanzas omitted from the second part, which originally 
was a separate hymn. 

Hymn 370. " Pris'ners of hope, lift up your heads." — C. Wesley. 
"The word of our God shall stand for ever." Isaiah 
xl, 8. Five stanzas, namely, third, fourth, sixth, se- 
venth, and ninth, omitted ; the last of which is as 
follows : — 

" Faithful and true, we now receive 
The promise ratified by thee : 
To Thee the when and how we leave, 

In time and in eternity ; 
"We only hang upon thy word, 
{ The servant shall he as his Lord.' " 

Verse 5 contains some admirable directions to earnest 
seekers of full redemption, and urges them to lay hold 
on, and wrestle with, Christ in mighty prayer, until they 
shall prevail, and obtain the answer to their petitions. 

Hymn 371. " Let not the wise their wisdom boast." — C. Wesley. 
" Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither 



356 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich 
man glory in his riches." Jer. ix, 23. 

Hymn 372. ' ; Lord, in the strength of grace." — C. Wesley. 

" Who is willing to consecrate his service this day 
unto the Lord ?" 1 Chron. xxix, 5. 

Hymn 373. ' : God, what off'riug shall I give?" — J. Wesley. 

A translation from the German, entitled, " A Morning 
Dedication of ourselves to Christ." The first stanza, 
which has been left out of the Hymn-b i '-, reads thus, — 

" Jesus, thy light again I view, 

Again thy mercy's beams I see, 
And all within me wakes anew, 

To pant for thy immensity : 
Again my thoughts to thee aspire, 
In fervent flames of strong desire." 

This is a composition of very great poetical excellence 
and merit. To persons " professing godliness," who 
are fond of adorning themselves in "gold and costly 
apparel," verses 4 and 5 are particularly interesting 
and applicable, as they describe a still more costly 
dress, even the robe of righteousness, in winch consists 
our likeness to Christ — the only adorning in which a 
Christian should glory, — 

" Than gold and pearls more precious far, 
And brighter than the morning star." 



Hymn 374. <; Father, into thy hands alone." — C. 

" Concerning the Sacrifice of our Persons." The 
sentiments of this hymn are in unison with Dr. Brevint, 
in the following extracts : — " And if it please Thee to 
use the power thou hast over dust and ashes, over 
weak flesh and blood, over a brittle vessel of clay, over 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 357 

the work of thine own hands ; lo, here they are, to suf- 
fer also thy good pleasure." " Hereafter no man can 
take away anything from me ; no life, no honor, no 
estate : since I am ready to lay them down, as soon as 
I perceive thou requirest them at my hands." — The 
Christian Sacrament and Sacrifice. 

Hymn 375. " Father, to thee my soul I lift." — C. Wesley. 

"It is God which worketh in you both to will and 
to do." Phil, ii, 13. 

Hymn 376. " Thou, Jesus, thou my breast inspire." — C. Wesley. 

The last two of nine stanzas, entitled, " For a Person 
called forth to bear his Testimony." The hymn in the 
Wesleyan collection, commencing, 

" Thy power and saving grace to show," 
is composed of verses 5, 6, and 7, of the same poem. 
Verse 1, — 

" And touch my lips with hallow'd fire." 

" Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a 
live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the 
tongs from off the altar : and he laid it upon my mouth, 
and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine 
iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Isa. vi, 6, 7. 

Hymn 377. "When all thy mercies, my God." — Addison. 

The subject of this beautiful hymn is Gratitude. 
Three stanzas, 8, 9, and 12, have been omitted from 
the Hymn-book. They are as follow : — 

" When worn with sickness, oft hast Thou 
With health renew'd my face ; 
And when in sins and sorrows sunk, 
Revive! my soul with grace. 



358 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Thy bounteous hand with worldly bliss 
Has made my cup run o'er, 
And in a kind and faithful friend 
Has doubled all my store. 

" When nature fails, and day and night 
Divide thy works no more, 
My ever grateful heart, O Lord, 
Thy mercy shall adore." 

" If gratitude is due from man to man," says the au- 
thor of this hymn, " how much more from man to his 
Maker ? The supreme Being does not only confer upon 
us these bounties which proceed more immediately from 
his hand, but even those benefits which arc conveyed 
to us by others. Every blessing we enjoy, by what 
means soever it may be derived upon us, is the gift of 
Him who is the great Author of good, and Father of 
mercies." — The Spectator, No. 453. 

Hymn 378. "Vain, delusive world, adieu!" — C. Wesley. 

" I am determined nut to know anything among you 
save Jesus Christ and him crucified." 1 Cor. ii, 2. 
Four stanzas, 3, 5, C, 9, excluded. Stanza 6 reads 

thus, — 

• What though earth and hell engage 

To shake my soul with fear, 
Calmly I defy the rage 

Of persecution near ; 
Suff'ring faith shall brighter glow, 

As gold when in the furnace tried : 
Only Jesus will I know, 

And Jesus crucified." 

Hymn 379. ' c With joy we meditate the grace." — Watts. 

" Christ's Compassion to the Weak and Tempted." 
Heb. it, 15, 16 ; v, 1 ; Matt, xii, 20. The second stanza 
omitted. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 359 

Hymn 380. " Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone." — Cenniclc. 

" Following Christ, the Sinner's Way to God." The 
author wrote the last line of verse 3 thus, — 

" Because I could not cease from sin ;" 
line second, verse 4, thus, — 

" I sinri'd and stumbled but the more ;" 
and verse 5, as follows, — 

" Lo ! glad I come, and thou, dear Lamb, 
Shall take me to thee as I am ; 
Nothing but sin / thee can give, 
Yet help me, and thy praise 1 'U live? 

Three stanzas, 3, 4, 5, rejected from the Hymn-book, 
are inserted here : — 

" No stranger may proceed therein, 
No lover of the world and sin ; 
No lion, no devouring care, 
No rav'nous tiger, shall be there. 

" No : nothing may go up thereon 
But trav'ling souls, and I am one : 
Wayfaring men, to Canaan bound, 
Shall only in the way be found. 

" Nor fools, by carnal men esteem'd, 
Shall err therein ; but they, redeem'd 
In Jesus' blood, shall show their right 
To travel there, till heaven's in sight." 

Hymn 381. " My God, my portion, and my love." — Watts. 

" God my only Happiness." Psa. lxxiii, 25. The 
poet wrote the second line of verse 8 thus, — 
" And grasp in all the store." 

Hymn 382. " Children of the heavenly King." — Cenniclc. 
" The Love-Feast," containing twelve stanzas ; the 



360 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

first, second, fourth, seventh, and eighth of which, com- 
pose our hymn. The author wrote the second line of 
verse 1 thus, — 

il As ye journey sweetly sing." 
Of the omitted stanzas, the following are 5 and 6 : — 

" Shout, ye little flock ! and, blest, 
You on Jesus' throne shall rest : 
There your seat is now prepared, 
There your kingdom and reward. 

" Lift your eyes, you sons of light, 
Zion's city is in sight ! 
There our endless home shall be, 
There our Lord we soon shall see." 

Hymn 383. " How do thy mercies close me round!" — C. Wesley. 
This is a beautiful evening hymn, entitled, " At lying 
Down." The last two stanzas excluded : — 

" Wherefore in confidence I close 
My eves, for thine are open still ; 
My spirit, lull*d in calm repose, 
Waits for the counsels of thy will. 

" After thy likeness let me rise, 

If here thou will'st my longer stay ; 
Or close in mortal sleep mine eyes, 
To open them in endless day." 

The sense of the second line of the fourth stanza is 
almost entirely destroyed by the improper pointing. It 
reads, 

"Jesus protects ; my fears begone : 
What can the Rock of ages move !" 

as though a question were asked as to what the rock 
of ages had the power of moving. The exclamation 
point at the end of the line is favorable to this applica- 
tion, There should be an exclamation point after 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 361 

What. The expression is one of surprise. The fears 
mentioned in the first line had troubled the subject, 
and, aroused to a sense of his situation, he was sur- 
prised that he should have suffered his confidence to be 
shaken. Recovered from the effects of his fear, he 
exclaims : — 

" Jesus protects ; my fears begone ! 

What ! can the Rock of ages move ?" 

and, as if the answer were returned, " No ; he never 
can," the subject becomes composed, and calmly says, — 
" Safe in thine arms I lay me down, 
Thine everlasting arms of love." 

Hymn 384. " Commit thou all thy griefs." 

Hymn 385. " Give to the winds thy fears." — J. Wesley. 

These two hymns are parts of the same composition, 
entitled, " Trust in Providence ;" and is a translation 
from the German of Paul Gerhard. The sentiments 
of these hymns are admirable, as the diction is appro- 
priate and striking. 

Hymn 386. " God of my life, whose gracious power." — G. Wesley. 
A noble hymn of fifteen stanzas, entitled, "At the 
Approach of Temptation." Ours is composed of verses 
1, 2, 9, 11, 14, 15 ; two more, 5 and 6, among the 
very best, are inserted in the Wesleyan collection : — 

" Oft hath the sea confess'd thy power, 
And given me back at thy command ; 
It could not, Lord, my life devour, 
Safe in the hollow of thy hand. 

" Oft from the margin of the grave 
Thou, Lord, hast lifted up my head ; 
Sudden I found thee near to save ; 
The fever oivri'd thy touch, and fed!" 



362 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

These stanzas are not more interesting on account of 
their personal allusions to remarkable providences, both 
on land and on sea, in the life of the poet, than for the 
force and pathos of their sentiments. What can ex- 
ceed in sublimity the last of the above lines ? It is 
equaled only by the sweet singer of Israel himself : — 

" The sea saw it, and fled! 
Jordan was driven back !" — Psalm cxiv, 3. 

The last line of the second stanza, as quoted above, is a 
beautiful allusion to the healing of Peter's wife's mother : 
" And when Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw his 
wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touch- 
ed her hand and the fever left her : and she arose and 
ministered unto them." Matt, viii, 14, 15. 

Hymn 387. " Though troubles assail, and dangers affright." 

Newton. 
This beautiful hymn, although composed in a very 
gladsome strain, and lively meter, is founded upon, 
perhaps, the most painful and heart-affecting incident 
recorded in the Bible ; that of Abraham presenting to 
God his son Isaac as a burnt-offering : " And Isaac 
spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father : 
and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold 
the fire and the wood ; but where is the lamb for 
the burnt-offering ?" Then follows Abraham's answer, 
which constitutes the burden of the hymn : " And 
Abraham said, My son, God mil provide" Gen. xxii, 
V, 8. But the lively measure is in nowise inconsistent 
with the strains, which affirm reliance upon God in 
every trial, with the assurance that he is all-sufficient, 
and is ever at hand to provide for the wants of his ser- 
vants. The sentiments are such as will always inspire 



METHODIST HVMNTOLOftV. 363 

the Christian heart with a desire cheerfully to submit 
to the will of its heavenly Guide. 

Hymn 388. " The Lord my pasture shall prepare." — Addison. 

" The person who has a firm trust on the supreme 
Being is powerful in his power, wise in his wisdom, 
happy by his happiness. He reaps the benefit of every 
divine attribute, and loses his own insufficiency in the 
fullness of infinite perfection. To make our lives more 
easy to us, we are commanded to put our trust in Him 
who is thus able to relieve and succor us ; the divine 
goodness having made such a reliance a duty, notwith- 
standing we should have been miserable had it been 
forbidden us." 

" David very beautifully represented this steady re- 
liance on God Almighty in his twenty-third Psalm, 
which is a kind of pastoral hymn, with those allusions 
which are usual in that kind of writing. As the poetry 
is very exquisite, I shall present my reader with the 
following translation of it : — 

' The Lord my pasture shall prepare,' " &c.* 

Hymn 389. " God moves in a mysterious way." — Cowper. 

The paradoxical title to this hymn is, " Light shining 
out of Darkness ;" but it is in keeping both with the 
sentiments of the hymn and the occasion of its com- 
position — the eve of a violent attack of a hypochon- 
driacal complaint, to which the poet was subject, and 
which deprived him of the use of his intellect. Mr. 
Montgomery says, this "is a lyric of high tone and 
character, and rendered awfully interesting by the cir- 

* See " The Spectator," No. 441. 



364 METHODIST HVMN0L0GY. 

cumstances under which it was written— in the twilight 
of departing reason." 

The following circumstances connected with the 
composition of this hymn, though not related by any 
of Cowper's biographers with whom we are acquaint- 
ed, are, we believe, generally held to be authentic in 
England. When under the influence of the fits of 
mental derangement to which we have alluded, he most 
unhappily, but firmly, believed that it was the divine 
will that he should drown himself in a particular part 
of the river Ouse. Calling one evening for a post- 
chaise, he ordered the driver to take him to that spot, 
which he readily undertook to do, as he well knew 
it. On this occasion, however, several hours were con- 
sumed in seeking it, and utterly in vain. The man was 
forced to admit that he had entirely lost his road. The 
snare was thus broken, Cowper escaped the temptation, 
returned to his home, and immediately sat down and 
wrote a hymn which has ministered comfort to thou- 
sands, and will probably do so for generations to come. 
Mr. Watson, who in taste and talents was perhaps 
not inferior to either Cowper or Montgomery, though 
not a poet himself, has detected a spot on the disc of 
this almost perfect poem. " Cowper's fine hymn on 
Providence," he remarks, " is greatly improved by omit- 
ting the stanza : — 

1 His purposes will ripen fast. 

Unfolding every hour ; 
The bud may have a bitter taste, 

But sweet will be the flower.' 

This is a figure not only not found in sacred inspired 
poetry, but which has too much prettiness to be the 
vehicle of a sublime thought, and the verse has more- 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 365 

over the fault of an absurd antithesis, as well as a 
false rhyme." — Life of Wesley, p. 2*77. 

A literary friend, who is himself a poet, has furnish- 
ed us with the following observations in reference to 
the foregoing criticism : — 

"In this critique Mr. "Watson is doubtless a little 
hypercritical, as is proved by his reference to the false 
rhyme. The rhyme is not sufficiently false to be con- 
demned in a just criticism. It is certainly allowable to 
rhyme taste with fast, though the rhyme is not by any 
means perfect. Nor does the absurdity of the anti- 
thesis so plainly appear ; at least, not in the antithesis; 
itself, although Mr. Watson may have imagined great 
absurdity in tasting a bud to ascertain its bitterness.. 
Truth, however, is on the side of the poet. The bud : 
of the sweetest flower has a * bitter taste.' The com- 
parison of the unfolding purposes of divine Providence 
with the ripening of a bud into the flower, and the sa- 
tisfactory change produced, is, by no means, so far- 
fetched as to merit condemnation. The poet is 
describing the manner of God's dealing with his people, 
allowing the clouds of temptation and adversity some- 
times to overshadow them. He says of these clouds 
that they 

' Are big with mercies, and shall break 
In blessings on your head ;' 

and for the encouragement of the afflicted person he- 
tells him that 

' Behind a frowning providence 

He [God] hides a smiling face.' 

His idea is, that God has a purpose in every trial that 

he permits his chosen to endure, and that that purpose 

is the improvement and happiness of the tried. The 



366 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

progress of the trial is indicated in the unfolding pur- 
poses of Providence, and the end of it, in the ripening 
of the bud into the flower. As the trial progresses, 
and the purposes are unfolded to the subject, he un- 
derstands the use for which they were designed, and, 
knowing that he shall receive benefit in the end, he is 
satisfied. The trial may be bitter, but the end of it 
shall be sweet. The adversity may be hard to bear, 
but when it passes, if faithful to God throughout the 
affliction, he shall enjoy happiness in the improvement 
he shall experience. He shall possess additional plea- 
sure in his increased confidence in God : — 
' The bud may hare a bitter taste, 
But sweet will be the flower.' 

If there is a blemish in the stanza, it is so slight that 
no dignified criticism could condemn it on account 
of it." We express no opinion. 

Hymn 390. "Away, my unbelieving fear!" — C. Wesley. 

This is a beautiful versification of Bab.' iii, 17-19. 
" While the poet confines himself to the metes and 
bounds of the prophet, he is strictly orthodox, as in 
the first four quatrains ; but when he begins spiritual- 
izing, he 'leans too much' toward Calvinism, the 
hymn having been written at that period when C. 
Wesley was not sufficiently guarded on that subject. 
For this reason, J. Wesley would not allow the hymn 
a place in the British book ; and for the same reason, 
the latter moiety has been omitted, 639, new book, 
(Methodist Episcopal Church, South,) leaving a perfect 
hymn. In the celebrated controversy between Mr. 
Hill and J. Wesley, the former quoted the part now 
excluded, (verses 3 and 4,) to fasten Calvinism upon 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 36*7 

his opponent, who dexterously cast the onus on C. 
Wesley."* Mr. Fletcher, after attempting to apolo- 
gize for the verses in question, remarks : " Nevertheless, 
as some expressions in this hymn are not properly 
guarded, the pious author will forgive me, if I tran- 
scribe a part of a letter which I lately received from 
him : ' I was once on the brink of Antinomianism, by 
unwarily reading Crisp and Saltmarsh. Just then, 
warm in my first love, I was in the utmost danger, 
when Providence threw in my way Baxter's treatise, 
entitled, "A Hundred Errors of Dr. Crisp demon- 
strated." My brother was sooner apprehensive of 
the dangerous abuse which would be made of our un- 
guarded hymns and expressions, than I was.' " — Fletch- 
ers Works, vol. i, p. 185. 

Hymn 391. "Peace, troubled soul, thou need'st not fear." 

" Seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things 
shall be added." Luke xii, 31. This hymn was insert- 
ed in the " Pocket Hymn-book," published by Bishops 
Coke and Asbury. Author unknown. 

Hymn 392. " Come on, my partners in distress." — C.Wesley. 

" The Trial of Faith." " Christ also suffered for us, 
leaving us an example." 1 Peter ii, 21. The third 
stanza omitted. Mr. Montgomery says this hymn 
" anticipates the strains, and is written almost in the 
spirit, of the church triumphant." 

Hymn 393. "Jesus, great Shepherd of the sheep." — C. Wesley. 
"For Believers." The last stanza rejected. 

* See Southern Methodist Quarterly Review, vol. ii, p. 100. 



368 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 394. "Master, I own thy lawful claim." — C. Wesley. 

tl And he said unto them all, If any man will come 
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross 
daily, and follow me." Luke ix, 23. Eleven stanzas, 
of which 1, 2, 3, 10, and 11, compose our hymn. 
Verse 4 reads thus, — 

" Reason, blind leader of the blind, 

No more my sinking soul shall stay, 

The wisdom of the carnal mind — 
That broken reed — I cast away ; 

And stand by trusting in Thy might, 

And follow thy unerring light " 

Hymn 395. " Cast on the fidelity."— C. Wesley. 

From the " Family Hymns." Each of the last four 
lines of verse 2 contains a spirited and beautiful per- 
sonification : — 

" Mercy to my rescue flew, 

And Death ungrasp'd his fainting prey : 
Pain before thy face withdrew, 
And Sorrow fled away." 

Hymn 396. " Thou Lamb of God, thou Prince of peace." 

J. Wesley. 

"In Affliction or Pain:" a translation from the Ger- 



Hymn 397. " Eternal Beam of light divine." — C. Wesley. 

" In Affliction." The prosopopceia in the fourth verse, 
in which the passions, grief, fear, and care, are repre- 
sented as vanishing before the presence of the " Rock 
of ages," like mists before the noontide heat, is in the 
highest strain of sublimity : — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 369 

u Be thou, Eock of ages, nigh ! 

So shall each murm'ring thought be gone ; 
And grief, and fear, and care, shall fly, 
As clouds before the mid-day sun." 



Hymn 398. " The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains." 

a 



" Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righte- 
ousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." 
Matt, vii, 33. The last verse omitted. 

Hymn 399. "Now I have found the ground wherein." — J. Wesley. 
A translation from the German of Rothe, entitled, 
" Redemption found." This, says Mr. Love, is " a 
glorious hymn," and " speaks the humble joy of a new- 
born soul. With what heartfelt exultation has many a 
poor mourning penitent, on first feeling the efficacy of 
the atonement, breathed out the language of this hymn ! 
The first verse expresses his new-found confidence ; the 
second embodies a deep sense of the tender compassion 
of God the Father ; the third seems an enraptured con- 
templation of the love of Christ. The last two lines of 
the third stanza, 

' While Jesus' blood, through earth and skies, 
Mercy, free, boundless mercy, cries !' 

contain a highly exhilarating sentiment, and have a 
striking association. These were almost the last words 
of Mr. Fletcher, of Madeley, whose impression in the 
hour of death of the truths they contain was so strong, 
that his feeble voice re-echoed the word ' boundless/ 
' boundless,' with surprising energy." — Records of Wes- 
leyan Life. 

16* 



370 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 400. " Soldiers of Christ, arise." — C. Wesley. 

A spirited paraphrase and versification of Ephesians 
vi, 10-18: "Put on the whole armor of God," &c, 
in which the Christian's heavenly warfare is vividly de- 
picted. Sixteen double stanzas; 5, 6, 9, and 10, omit- 
ted. The first two lines of part third should be written 
thus, — 

c: In fellowship — alone — 
To God with faith draw near."' 

Here are two of the excluded stanzas : — 

" Still let your feet he shod, 

Ready his will to do ; 
Beady in all the ways of God, 

His glory to pursue ; 
Ruin is spread beneath, 

The gospel-greaves put on, 
And safe through all the snares of death 

To life eternal run." 

' ; Brandish in faith till then 

The Spirit's two-edged sword, 
Hew all the snares of fiends and men 

In pieces with the "Word ; 
"Tis written' — this applied, 

Baffles their strength and art, 

Spirit and soul with this divide, 

And joints and marrow part." 

Hymn 401. " Hark! how the watchmen cry !" — C. Wesley. 

"For the Watchnight," containing twelve double 
stanzas; 3, 5, 11, and 12, excluded. This is a noble 
hymn, breathing the true spirit of the Christian warrior. 
In verse 4, of the first part, there is a roughness of ex- 
pression which well accords with the sentiments ex- 
pressed, as to the expulsion of the rebel angels from 
heaven : — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 371 

" From thrones of glory driven, 
By flaming vengeance hurl'd, 
They throng the air, and darken heaven, 
And rule the lower world " 

It has been thought that there is some incongruity in the 
union of epithets in the following lines of verse 3, 
second part : — 

" Jesus, the meek, the angry Lamb, 
A lion is in fight ;" 

but it must be remembered that the Lamb of God, and 
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, are one and the same ; 
and that in the same portion of Scripture, in which we 
read of the Lamb slain, we also read of the wrath of 
the Lamb. Rev. vi, 16, 17. 

The next two lines of the same verse are remark- 
able, — 

" By all hell's host withstood, 
We all hell's host o'erthrow." 

Here, says Mr. Burgess, " instead of the regular move- 
ment of three iambuses, each consisting of a short 
syllable followed by a long one, we have, in the first 
line, an iambus, a spondee, an iambus ; in the second 
line, an iambus and two spondees, — 

' By all | hell's host I withstood 
We all | hell's host | o'erthrow.' 

The three consecutive long syllables — all hell's host — 
comprising two strongly aspirated words — hell's — host 
— give an appropriate harshness to these lines, so that it 
is somewhat difficult to read them, and we are com- 
pelled to do it in a slow, cautious, and solemn way, ad- 
mirably comporting with the idea of a laborious and 
successful opposition to our spiritual foes." 



372 METHODIST HYMKOLOGY. 

Hymn 402. " When I can read my title clear." — Watts. 

" The Hope of Heaven our Support under Trials on 
Earth." The first two lines of this delightful little 

hymn, 

" When I can read my title clear 
To mansions in the skies," 
have furnished Cowper with an idea, in his parallel be- 
tween Voltaire and the poor cottager. In that exquisite 
piece of eloquence and poetry, the melancholy poet has 
not only taken the thought, but adopted the expression 
of Watts. He is speaking of the cottager, who, while 
she sits weaving at her door, 

" Just knows, and knows no more, her Bible true — 
A truth the brilliant Frenchman never knew ; 
And in that charter reads ivith sparkling eyes 
Her title to a treasure in the skies.'' 1 

Hymn 403. " Equip me for the war."— C. Wesley. 

" On God's Everlasting Love," embracing fifty-two 
quatrains, of which 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, compose our 
hymn. Tins long poem was written at a time when 
doctrinal controversy waxed warm between Arminians 
and Calvinists, in relation to the " five points ;" and 
many of the omitted verses contain what at this day 
would be considered " hard thoughts." Take, as a 
specimen, one double stanza, the fifteenth, in which 
Satan is made to speak of God's love to " his little 

ones :" — 

" He gives them damning grace, 
To raise their torments higher, 
And makes his shrieking children pass 

To Moloch through the fire ; 
He doom'd then- souls to death 

From all eternity : 
This is the wisdom from beneath, 
That horrible decree /" 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 373 

Hymn 404. " Saviour of all, what hast thou done." — C. Wesley. 
"The Trial of Faith." 1 Pet. ii, 21. The second 
stanza excluded. This hymn ends finely. 

Hymn 405. " Surrounded by a host of foes." — C.Wesley. 

" This is the victory that overcometh the world, even 
our faith." 1 John v, 4. If the first two lines of verse 2 
must be considered hyperbolical, the rest are pre-emi- 
nently striking and beautiful. 

Hymn 406. "Peace, doubting heart ! my God's I am." — C. Wesley. 
" When thou passest through the waters, I will be 
with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not over- 
flow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou 
shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon 
thee." Isa. xliii, 2. A very excellent hymn, abounding 
in Scriptural images and metaphors, and full of instruc- 
tion and encouragement for the children of God. 

Hymn 407. " O God, my hope, my heavenly rest." 

Hymn 408. " To thee, great God of love, I bow." — C. Wesley. 

These two fine hymns are found under the head, " For 
a Preacher of the Gospel." 

Hymn 409. " O God, thy faithfulness I plead."— C. Wesley. 

The title of this is, " In Temptation." Three stanzas, 
2, 3, and 8, omitted. 

Hymn 410. "Fondly my foolish heart essays." — C. Wesley. 

The last four of fourteen stanzas, entitled, " In Desertion 
or Temptation." Verses 5, 6, and 8, graphically por- 
tray the feelings so often experienced by the tempted 
follower of Christ, even when engaged in the solemn 
and important acts of prayer and praise ; while the last 



374 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

two lines of verse 8 contain a very striking, though 
humiliating, thought : — 

" My feeble knees I bend again, 

My drooping hands again I rear : 
Vain is the task, the effort vain, 

My heart abhors the irksome prayer. 

" Oft with thy saints my voice I raise, 
And seem to join the tasteless song ; 
Faintly ascends th' imperfect praise, 
Or dies upon my thoughtless tongue. 

" Nigh with my lips to thee I draw, 
Unconscious at thy altar found ; 
Far off my heart ; nor touch'd with awe, 
Nor moved — though angels tremble round! 1 '' 

Hymn 411. "And are we yet alive." — C. Wesley. 

" For Christian Friends ;" the last stanza rejected. 
In verse 3 we have these lines, — 

" Which saves us to the uttermost, 
Till we can sin no more." 

In other hymns we find similar expressions, as in 

85. " Take the power of sin away." 
358. " Without committing sin shall live, 
Shall live to God at last." 

In reference to such strong expressions as these, what 
we are to understand the poet as meaning, doubtless, 
is, that all the remaining corruption and depravity of 
our hearts being destroyed, there is nothing left within 
likely to betray us into sin. For, says Mr. Burgess, 
" if more than this be intended, it should be remem- 
bered, that, in all who are in a state of probation, the 
power of shining is co-ordinate with the power of obey- 
ing ; the one cannot exist without the other. To take 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 376 

away, absolutely, the power of sinning, would be to 
deprive us of our free agency, and, of course, to destroy 
our accountability." 

Hymn 412. " Come away to the skies." — C. Wesley. 

This hymn was written by the author on the occa- 
sion of his wife's birthday. 

Hymn 413. " Come, let us anew Our journey pursue." — C.Wesley. 
The title of this hymn is, " On a Journey." 



Hymn 414. " Come, let us ascend." — C. 

"For Christian Friends." When, says Mr. Fletcher, 
" the triumphal chariot of perfect love gloriously carries 
you to the top of perfection's hill ; when you are raised 
far above the common heights of the perfect ; when 
you are almost translated into glory, like Elijah ; then 
you may sing this hymn." — Works, vol. ii, p. 668. 

Hymn 415. " Try us, God, and search the ground." 

C. Wesley. 
"A Prayer for Persons joined in Fellowship." An 
expression in verse 2 has by some been deemed objec- 
tionable, — 

" When to the right or left we stray 
Leave us not comfortless." 

" This," says Mr. Burgess, " might be supposed to 
mean, when we are wandering in the paths of disobe- 
dience, let us have comfort ; and thus understood, it 
would be favorable to the Antinomian heresy. To ex- 
pect comfort in the paths of sin is presumption and 
folly, for which not the least warrant can be found in 
Holy Scripture. But this could not be the poet's mean- 



376 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

ing. All that he intended was to pray, that, if at any- 
time we should unhappily turn aside from the right 
way, we may not be left in that wretched and comfort- 
less condition ; that God may not abandon us, but may 
still strive with us by his good Spirit, and lead us back 
into the right way, the way of obedience, the way of 
peace." 

Hymn 416. " Thou God of truth and love."— C. Wesley. 

" For Christian Friends ;" the last stanza omitted. 

Hymn 417. <: Father of our dying Lord." — C. Wesley. 
" For the Day of Pentecost." 



Hymn 418. "Jesus, united by thy grace." — C. 

"A Prayer for Persons joined in Fellowship." This 
is the last part of hymn 415. In verses 1, 8, and 9, 
there is a recognition of three separate states of exist- 
ence — earth, paradise, and heaven — and we are informed 
that being made 'perfect first in love, the soul will 
scarcely know its change from one state to another, the 
highest enjoyment in each being the same; though we 
must not suppose the poet meant in the same degree : — 

" Yet when the fullest joy is given, 
The same delight we prove ; 
In earth, in paradise, in heaven, 
Our all in all is love." 

Hymn 419. " Jesus, Lord, we look to thee." — C. Wesley. 

The appropriate title of this delightful hymn is, " For 
a Family." A household whose character is delineated 
in these stanzas, may indeed be said to belong 
" To the familv above." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 377 

Hymn 420. " Come, and let us sweetly join." — C. Wesley. 

" The Love-feast ;" in six parts, containing twenty- 
two double stanzas ; the last two parts omitted. 

Hymn 421. " Come, let us use the grace divine." — C. Wesley. 

" Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord, in a 
perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten." Jer. 
1, 5. This is usually denominated The Covenant Hyrrm, 
and is used by the Methodist Episcopal Churches in 
the United States, at their solemn watchnight meet- 
ings, held on New- Year's eve, and continued until mid- 
night, when, just at the departure of the old, and the 
commencement of the new, year, it is sung by the 
congregations, sometimes standing, but frequently on 
their knees. The Wesley an societies in England, and 
elsewhere, generally hold similar services on the first 
sabbath in the new year, when the hymn is sung, and 
the societies are invited and encouraged publicly to 
renew their covenant with God. 

Hymn 422. " Peace be on this house bestow'd." — C. Wesley. 
This is entitled, " The Salvation." 

Hymn 423. "Except the Lord conduct the plan." — C. Wesley. 
" For a Family of Believers." 

Hymn 424. " All thanks to the Lamb, who gives us to meet." 

C. Wesley. 

" For Christian Friends." Seven stanzas ; our hymn 
being composed of 1, 2, and 7. Verse 2, of hymn 47, 
is taken from the same poem. 

Hymn 425. " Watch'd by the world's malignant eye." — C. Wesley. 
" Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, be- 



3*78 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

cause of the reproach of the heathen our enemies." 
Nehemiah v, 9. 

Hymn 426. " See, Jesus, thy disciples see." — C. Wesley. 

" For Christian Friends ;" the last two stanzas ex- 
cluded. 

Hymn 427. " Appointed by Thee, we meet in thy name." 

C. Wesley. 
" For Christian Friends :" six stanzas, the third and 
sixth of which form 1 and 3 of our hymn. Verse 2 is 
taken from hymn 424. It is evidently out of place in 
its present position ; the connection of the other two 
stanzas being better without it. 

Hymn 428. " Blest be the dear uniting love." — C. Wesley. 

Eight stanzas, entitled, " At parting." The last line 
of verse 2 originally read, — 

" And do his work below." 
The two omitted stanzas, 5 and 6, are as follow : — 

" While thus we walk with Christ in light, 
Who shall our souls disjoin ? 
Souls, which himself vouchsafes t' unite 
In fellowship divine ! 

" We all are one who him receive, 
And each with each agree, 
In him the One, the Truth, we live, 
Bless'd point of unity." 

Hymn 429. "Jesus, accept the praise." — C. Wesley. 

" At the parting of Friends." Verses 5, 6, and 7, 
dwell upon the awfully terrific scenes which shall trans- 
pire at the destruction of the earth by fire, represent 
the redeemed soul shouting above the fiery void, and in 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 379 

a new world of righteousness and love, looking for the 
restoration of the old ruined earth and heaven. The 
last line of verse 6 is in the highest strain of sub- 
limity : — 

" These eyes shall see them fall. 
Mountains, and stars, and skies ! 
These eyes shall see them all 

Out of their ashes rise ! 
These lips His praises shall rehearse, 
Whose nod restores the universe /" 

Hymn 430. " God of all consolation, take." 

Hymn 431. " And let our hodies part." 

Hymn 432. "Lift up your hearts to things ahove." — C. Wesley. 

These three hymns are also on the subject of the 
parting of friends ; and contain many delightful and 
consoling reflections. Three quatrains, 2, 3, and 4, have 
been omitted from hymn 430, the entire "second part " 
of 431, and six stanzas from 432. 

Verse 11, hymn 430, is a paraphrase of Rev. vii, 9 : 
" After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which 
no man could number, stood before the throne, and 
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms 
in their hands." 

Hymn 433. " Glory he to God ahove." 

Hymn 434. " Saviour of sinful men." — C. Wesley. 

These two are entitled, " At the Meeting of Friends." 
Three stanzas, 4, 5, and 6, omitted of hymn 433. The 
last two lines of verse 2, same hymn, were written by 
the author thus, — 

" Lasting comfort, steadfast hope, 
Solid joy, and settled peace." 
From hymn 434 six double stanzas have been ex- 
cluded. 



380 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 435. " Jesus, to thee our hearts we lift." 

Hymn 436. " Jesus, we look to thee." 

Hymn 437. " All praise to our redeeming Lord." — C. Wesley. 

These are, " For Christian Friends." The last stanza 
has been omitted from hymn 436 ; and 3, 4, and 5, 
from 435. The following- two excluded stanzas, from 
the latter hymn, have been inserted in the Wesleyan 
Hymn-book : — 

" When stronger souls their faith forsook, 
And lull'd in worldly, hellish peace, 
Leap'd desp'rate from their guanilan Rock, 

And headlong plunged in sin's abyss ; 
Thy strength was in our weakness shown, 
And still it guards and keeps thine own. 

" All are not lost, or wander'd back ; 

All have not left thy church and thee : 
There are who suffer for thy sake, 

Enjoy thy glorious infamy, 
Esteem the scandal of the cross, 
And only seek divine applause." 

Hymn 438. " Unchangeable, Almighty Lord." — C. Wesley. 

" He that believeth shall not make haste." Isa. xxviii, 
16. See hymn 357. 

Hymn 439. " God of love, that hear'st the prayer." — C. Wesley. 
"A Redemption Hymn:" six quatrains omitted. 



Hymn 440. " Saviour of all. to thee we bow." — C. 

" If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I 
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with 
me." Rev. hi, 20. As faith is a receiving and appro- 
priating, not a bestowing nor imparting, grace, there 
have been objections to the sixth verse, — 
<: The heavenly manna faith imparts." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 381 

The fourth stanza is rather puerile, and sinks below the 
author's level : the sentiment is much better expressed 
in the fifth. The original language of the last line, 
verse 4, is, — 

" And rest in thy redeeming love f 
referring the "rest " to the Saviour ; not " who rest," as 
we have it, referring to the church. The alteration in 
the old book, says an excellent critic, was probably 
made in ignorance of the poet's allusion, which is to 
that fine passage in Zephaniah, " The Lord thy God in 
the midst of thee is mighty ; he will save, he will rejoice 
over thee with joy ; he will rest in his love ; he will joy 
over thee with singing." — South. Meth. Quar., vol. ii, 
p. 104. 

Hymn 441. " Centre of our hopes thou art." 

Hymn 442. " Jesus, with kindest pity see." — C. Wesley. 

These two hymns were written by the author for 
himself and brother. From the former the first stanza 
has been omitted. It reads thus, — 

" Author of the peace unknown, 
Lover of my friend and me, 
Who of twain hast made us one 
One preserve us still in thee ; 
All our heighten'd blessings bless, 
Crown our hopes with full success." 

The first line of verse 3 originally read, — 

" Let us both together rise." 

The author wrote the second line of the first stanza, 
hymn 442, thus, — 

" Two souls that would be one in thee." 

Part of the language of this hymn, it has been 



882 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

thought by some, is ambiguous and transcendental to 
common minds. 

Hymn 443. "Lo! what an entertaining sight," — Watts. 

" Brotherly Love." Psalm cxxxiii. The poet wrote 
the first stanza thus, — 

"Lo! what an entertaining sight 
Are brethren that agree ; 
Brethren ! whose cheerful hearts unite 
In bands of piety /" 

One verse, the third, has been omitted. 

Hymn 444. " Father, at thy footstool see." — C. Wesley. 

This hymn, like 441 and 442, was composed by the 
author with special reference to his brother and himself. 
He wrote the first two lines thus, — 

" Father, at thy footstool see 
Two who now are one in thee." 

The last double stanza has been excluded. It is 
remarkable, and reads as follows : — 

" Made like the first happy pair, 
Let us here thy nature share, 
Holy, pure, and perfect, be, 
Transcript of the Trinity ; 
Foremost of created things, 
Nearest the great King of kings ; 
Standing as at first we stood, 
Made a little less than God !" 

Hymn 445. " Blest are the sons of peace." — Watts. 

" Communion of Saints; or, Love and Worship in a 
Family." Psalm cxxxiii. Four stanzas; the third 
omitted : — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 383 

" Thus when on Aaron's head 
They pour'd the rich perfume, 
The oil through all his raiment spread, 
And pleasure fiU'd the room." 



Hymn 446. " Giver of concord, Prince of peace." — C. 1 

" Little Children, love one Another," is the title of 
this hymn, and evidently refers to some of the expres- 
sions of St. John, perhaps iv, 7. Three stanzas, 5, 6, 8, 
excluded, none of which is worth retaining. 

Hymn 447. " Christ, from whom all blessings flow."— C. Wesley. 

This is part the fourth, omitting two verses, of a poem 
in six parts, entitled, " The Communion of Saints," con- 
taining thirty-nine double stanzas. 

Hymn 448. " Our friendship sanctify and guide." — C. Wesley. 

This was written by the poet for himself and bro- 
ther ; which will account for the peculiar phraseology 
in the second verse : — 

" What'er thou dost on one bestow, 
Let each the double blessing know." 

The double stanzas, 1, 5, 6, are omitted, all of which con- 
tain personal allusions to themselves. The last two are of 
so interesting a character that they must be inserted : — 

" And if it be thy sovereign will, 
Jesus, our hearts' desire fulfill ; 

Thou know'st, dear Lord, what we would say : 
To thee the matter we submit, 
But if thy wisdom deems it fit, 

O call us both at once away. 
Let both at once the summons hear, 
And bless the welcome messenger, 



384 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

The angel of thy latest grace : 
Let both at once our souls resign 
Into those gracious hands of thine, 

And see at once thy glorious face. 

" In thee together let us die, 
Together mount above the sky, 

Smooth-wafted on the angel's wings, 
Together take the starry crown, 
And sit with thee triumphant down, 

Assessors of the King of kings ; 
Together on thy fullness feast, 
In thee and in each other blest, 

The social joys of heaven improve ; 
Sing the new song which ne'er shall end, 
And jointly in thy praises spend 

An everlasting age of love." 

Hymn 449. " O Thou, our Husband, Brother, Friend." 

C. Wesley. 

A "Hymn of Intercession," containing nine stanzas, 
the last three excluded. 

Hymn 450. " Come, wisdom, power, and grace divine." 
Hymn 451. " Saviour, cast a gracious smile." — C. Wesley. 

These two are from " Hymns for the Use of Fami- 
lies." 

Hymn 452. " Blest be the tie that binds." — Fawcett. 

This hymn is entitled "Brotherly Love," and the 
sentiments delightfully accord with its import ; it is a 
general and deserved favorite. 

Hymn 453. " Holy Lamb, who thee confess." — C. Wesley. 

From the "Family Hymns." Verse 3 exhibits a 
beautiful peculiarity in the occasional structure of the 
author's poetry, where the intensity of "wrestling 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 385 

faith " is shown as well as expressed in the repetitions 
of the last three lines. Objections have been made 
to the closing lines of the hymn, — 

" Till we on the sacred, tree 
Bow the head, and die like Thee." 

Hymn 454. " Jesus, thy wand'ring sheep behold." 
Hymn 455. " Lord of the harvest, hear." — C. Wesley. 

These are, " A Prayer for Laborers :" 454 contains 
eleven stanzas, the last three excluded. Yerse 10 is 
expressive of its origin : — 

" To Thee for all men lifted up, 

O let them still their witness hear ; 

And shouting from the mountain-top, 

The Saviour of the world declare." 

From 455 the last stanza has been rejected. 

Hymn 456. " How beauteous are their feet." — Watts. 

" The Blessedness of Gospel Times ; or, The Revela- 
tion of Christ to Jews and Gentiles." Isa. lii, 2, 7-10 ; 
Matt, xiii, 16, 17. This is a fine hymn to be sung on 
missionary occasions. 

Hymn 457. " Father, if justly still we claim." 
Hymn.458. " On all the earth thy Spirit shower."— More. 

" Upon the Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Day 
of Pentecost." Altered from Dr. H. More, by John 
Wesley, and published with his and Charles's " Hymns 
and Sacred Poems," 1739. Both hymns are portions 
of the same poem ; the first five stanzas of which are 
omitted. 

Hymn 459. " Comfort, ye ministers of grace." — C. Wesley. 

A paraphrase of the first five verses of the fortieth 
17 



386 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

chapter of Isaiah. Ten stanzas; the third, fourth, 
eighth, and ninth, excluded. 

Hymn 460. " High on his everlasting throne." — J. Wesley. 

" God's Husbandry :" a translation from the German 
of Spangenberg, who presented the original to Count 
Zinzendorf on his birthday, in the year 1734. It com- 
prises thirteen double stanzas ; the first, third, eighth, 
and thirteenth of which, compose our hymn. Mr. 
Montgomery, who inserted this hymn, omitting three 
double stanzas, into his " Christian Psalmist," says, 
though considerably abridged from the original, it con- 
tains " one of the most consistent allegories that can be 
found in verse, on the manner in which it has pleased 
God, by the ministry of the gospel, to reclaim a world 
from the desolation which sin hath made." 

The first two lines of verse *7 should read thus, — 

" O multiply the sowers' seed, 

And fruit we every hour shall bear ;" 

making the pronoun refer to " sowers," and not to 
" seed," as in the Hymn-book. 

Hymn 461. " Draw near, O Son of God, draw near." — C. Wesley. 

The title of this is : "A Prayer for the Bishops ;" 
ay ! for the prelates of the English Establishment, 
"worthy successors" of the apostles. So here we 
have in our own Hymn-book, what does not appear in 
the Wesleyan collection, a hymn written in support of 
that doctrinal fable, Apostolical succession. But if there 
be any doubt as to the real meaning of the poet's lan- 
guage, just refer to the one omitted stanza. It is the 
fourth, and runs thus, — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 38*7 

" The worthy successors of those 
Who first adorn'd the sacred line ; 
Bold let them stand before their foes, 
And dare assert their right divine." 

The third line of the first verse originally read, — 
" Still in thy falling church appear." 

Hybin 462. " Shall I, for fear of feeble man." 

Hymn 463. " Saviour of men, thy searching eye." — J. Wesley. 

These two hymns are a translation from the German 
of Winkler, entitled, " Boldness in the Gospel." They 
bear internal evidence of having been composed during 
Mr. Wesley's mission to Georgia, and while he was suffer- 
ing great persecution for the faithful manner in which he 
discharged his pastoral duties, by openly and fearlessly 
reproving sin. Hence, perhaps, the title of the hymns, 
and the peculiar language of the first three stanzas of 
hymn 462. 

Hymn 464. " The Lord is King, and earth submits." — C. Wesley. 
"He that believeth shall not make haste." Isa. 
xxviii, 16. (See hymn 357.) Verse 4, — 

" Jesus, the woman's conq'ring Seed, 
Though now the serpent bruise his heel, 
Jesus shall bruise the serpent's head." 

" And I will put enmity between thee and the wo- 
man, and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall 
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. 
iii, 15. 

Hymn 465. " Are there not in the laborer's day." — J. Wesley. 

" The Way of Duty the Way of Safety." One stanza, 
the second, omitted : — 



388 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Not all the powers of earth can fright 
A soul that walks with Christ in light ; 

He walks, and cannot fall : 
Clearly he sees, and wins his way, 
Shining unto the perfect day, 

And more than conquers all." 

Objection has been urged against the apparently boast- 
ful language with which the hymn closes : — 

" My soul into thy hands I give, 
And, if he can obtain thy leave, 
Let Satan pluck me thence." 

Hymn 466. " Go preach my gospel, saith the Lord." — Watts. 

" The Apostles' Commission : or, The Gospel attest- 
ed by Miracles." Mark xvi, 15, &c. ; Matt, xxviii, 18, 
&c. Two stanzas, 3 and 5, excluded ; the fifth is as 
follows : — 

" He spake, and light shone round his head, 
On a bright cloud to heaven he rode ; 
They to the furthest nations spread 
The grace of their ascended God." 

Hymn 467. "Jesus, the word of mercy give." — C. Wesley. 

"Let thy priests be clothed with salvation, and let 
thy saints rejoice in goodness." 2 Chron. vi, 41. "Let 
them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth 
in his might." Judges v, 31. Verses 1 and 2 are 
founded upon the former, 3, 4, 5, and 6, upon the 
latter, text ; upon which the author has two more qua- 
trains : — 

" Such honor shall thy saints receive, 
Who thee sincerely love ; 
Dispensers of thy gifts we live, 
And general blessings prove ; — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 389 

And when our useful course is run, 

Enjoy thy kingdom given, 
Bright as the uncreated sun 

In the eternal heaven." 

Hymn 468. " Jesus, the name high over all." — C. Wesley. 

This was composed " after preaching — in a Church" 
and contains twenty-two stanzas, of which 9, 10, 12, 
13, 18, and 22, constitute our hymn. Of those exclud- 
ed, 8 and 14 are subjoined : the latter is familiar to 
many, and highly appreciated ; the former, also, has in 
it what will render it dear to the numerous admirers of 
the joint poet and pioneer of Methodism : — 

" Thee I shall constantly proclaim, 
Though earth and hell oppose ; 
Bold to confess thy glorious Name 
Before a world of foes." 

" O that my Jesus' heavenly charms 
Might every bosom move ! 
Fly, sinner ; fly into those arms 
Of everlasting love." 

Hymn 469. " Jesus, my strength and righteousness." 

C. Wesley. 
" For a Minister of Christ." Comprising nine double 
stanzas, the first three of which make our hymn. The 
last line of verse 4 should read, — 

" With pitying love looked down." 
For the omitted stanzas see pages 146-7. 

Hymn 470. " I the good fight have fought." — C Wesley. 

"I have fought a good fight. I have kept the 
faith." 2 Tim. iv, 1. 



390 METHODIST HYMNOLOGT. 

Hymn 471. "Let Zion's watchmen all awake." — Doddridge. 

"Watching for Souls in the View of the Great 
Account." Heb. xiii, 17. For the Ordination of a 
Minister. The first word of the fourth verse should 
be " All," not " And," as in the Hymn-book. 

Hymn 472. " Steel me to shame-, reproach, disgrace."— C. Wesley. 
The last four of eight stanzas, entitled, " Boldness in 
the Gospel." This hymn breathes the confident ex- 
pression of the dauntless ambassador of Christ, with 
his face set like flint, and a brow of adamant, to brave 
every difficulty in the faithful execution of his high 
commission, nor shrink to declare the " harshest truths " 
of the gospel. In two of the excluded stanzas, 3 and 
4, he thus prays for a suitable preparation for his all- 
important work : — 

" Now arm mc for the threat'ning fight, 
Now let thy power descend from high, 
Triumphant in thy Spirit's might, 
So shall I every foe defy. 

" I ask thy help ; hy thee sent forth, 
Thy glorious gospel to proclaim ; 
Be thou my mouth, and shake the earth, 
And spread by me thy awful name." 

Hymn 473. " Give me the faith which can remove." — C. Wesley. 
One of our poet's excellent hymns, " For a Preacher 
of the Gospel." Eight stanzas : 1, 2, and 8, omitted; 
the last of w T hich reads thus, — 

" Or if, to serve thy church and Thee, 
Myself be offer'd up at last, 
My soul brought through the purple sea, 

With those beneath the altar cast, 
Shall claim the palm to martyrs given, 
And mount a brighter throne in heaven." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 391 

The allusion in the third and fourth lines to Rev. vi, 9, 
is very beautiful and expressive : " And when he had 
opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls 
of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the 
testimony which they held." 

In the second verse of the hymn, Mr. Wesley breathes 
a " strong desire " for a " calmly fervent zeal," 
" To save poor souls out of the fire ; 
To snatch them from the verge of hell ; 
And turn them to a pard'ning God, 
And quench the brands in Jesus' blood." 

There is a passage in the " Course of Time," which 
bears a strong resemblance to these lines. Pollok 
exclaims, — 

- the Holy One for sinners dies ; 



The Lord of life for guilty rebels bleeds ; 
Quenches eternal fire with blood divine." 

B. ii, 1. 157, &c. 

Hymn 474. "Jesus, thou soul of all our joys." — C. Wesley. 

The title of this fine hymn is, " The True Use of 
Music," and is founded on 1 Cor. xiv, 15 : "I will sing 
with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding 
also." "Music," says Dr. Clarke, " as a science, I es- 
teem and admire ; but instruments of music in the 
house of God I abominate and abhor. This is the 
abuse of music ; and I here register my protest against 
all such corruptions in the worship of the Author of 
Christianity. The late venerable and most eminent 
divine, the Rev. John Wesley, who was a lover of music, 
and an elegant poet, when asked his opinion of instru- 
ments of music being introduced into the chapels of 
the Methodists, said, in his terse and powerful manner, 
■ I have no objection to instruments of music in our 



392 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

chapels, provided they are neither heard nor seen.' I 
say the same, though I think the expense of purchase 
had better be spared." — Com. on Amos vi, 5. 

To the attention of all lovers of instrumental music, 
who are professors of religion, we would respectfully 
and affectionately recommend this hymn, especially the 
fifth verse : — 

" Still let us on our guard be found, 
And watch against the power of sound 

With sacred jealousy : 
Lest, haply, sense should damp our zeal, 
And music's charms bewitch and steal 
Our hearts away from Thee." 

Hymn 475. " Once more we come before our God." — Hart. 

" Before Preaching." Six stanzas ; the last two 
omitted. They are as follow : — 

"Bid the refreshing north wind wake, 
Say to the south wind, blow ; 
Let every plant the power partake, 
And all tho garden grow. 

" Revive the parch' d with heavenly showers, 
The cold with warmth divine ; 
And as the benefit is ours, 
Be all the glory thine." 

The author wrote the third line, verse 3, " Hoard up 
the precious treasure ;" and the last line, verse 4, " Pro- 
duce a copious fruit." 



Hymn 476. " Father of all, whose powerful voice." — 

A most beautiful and spirited paraphrase of the 
Lord's Prayer; and one of the few original poetical 
composures of the founder of Methodism. Mr. Wesley 
published this poem at the end of his sixth discourse 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 393 

upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount : it is also found 
in "Hymns and Sacred Poems," by J. and C. Wesley, 
1742. 

Hymn 477. " See how great a flame aspires." — C. Wesley. 

This very animated and emphatic hymn was written 
" After preaching to the Newcastle Colliers," on the 
joyful occasion of the author's ministerial success, and 
that of his fellow-laborers, among that people. " Per- 
haps," says Mr. Jackson, "the imagery was suggested 
by the large fires which illuminate the whole part of 
that country in the darkest nights." 

Hymn 478. "Jesus, the Conqu'ror, reigns." — C. Wesley. 

This is found under the head, " Hymns for Believers," 
and contains sixteen double stanzas ; the first six of 
which compose our hymn. 

Hymn 479. "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun." — Watts. 

" Christ's Kingdom among the Gentiles." Psalm 
lxxii. Second Part. Four quatrains omitted ; sixth, 
seventh, and eighth of which, being the last of the 
Psalm, are as follow : — 

" Blessings abound where'er He reigns ; 
The pris'ner leaps to lose his chains ; 
The weary find eternal rest, 
And all the sons of want are West. 

" Where he displays his healing power, 
Death and the curse are known no more ; 
In him the tribes of Adam boast 
More blessings than their father lost. 

" Let every creature rise, and bring 
Peculiar honors to our King; 
Angels descend with songs again, 
And earth repeat the long Amen." 
17* 



394 METHODIST HYMXOLOGJT. 

Hymn 480. " Arm of the Lord, awake, awake !" — C. 

The second part of a paraphrase, in two parts, of the 
fifty-first chapter of Isaiah. Five stanzas omitted. 
The personifications of Death and Hell, in the third, and 
of " sighing " Grief, in the fourth, verse, are very expres- 
sive ; and when reading them we feel like joining " the 
ransomed seed," as they 

"Shouting their heavenly Sion gain, 

And pass through death triumphant home !" 



Hymn 481. "Jesus, from thy heavenly place." — C. 

" The Lord dwelleth on high, and hath filled Sion 
with judgment and righteousness. And wisdom and 
knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and 
strength of salvation ; the fear of the Lord is his trea- 
sure." Isaiah xxxiii, 5, 6. 

The author wrote the sixth line of verse 2, and so 
it still reads in the English book, thus, — 

" Our king's peculiar treasure prove." 

" Father Hitt, to suit it to republican America, alter- 
ed the word, and we now pray that ' piety sincere' may 
•^rove the * peculiar treasure ' of our land, and that it 
may be inspired with * humble love.' " — Floy, M. E. 
Quar. Rev., 1844. 

Hymn 482. " Happy soul, who sees the day."— C. Wesley. 

A beautiful paraphrase and expansion of the twelfth 
chapter of Isaiah. 

Hymn 483. " Glory to God, whose sovereign grace." — C. Wesley. 
This hymn was written " For the Kings wood Colliers." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 395 

The last two stanzas, which are remarkable, have been 
excluded. They read thus, — 

" Suffice that for the season past, 

Hell's horrid language fill'd our tongues , 
We all thy words behind us cast, 
And lewdly sang the drunkard's songs. 

" But O the power of grace divine ! 
In hymns we now our voices raise, 
Loudly in strange hosannas join, 
And blasphemies are turn'd to praise." 

An explanation of these stanzas, as well as of some 
expressions in the former part of the hymn, namely, 
" senseless stories," " reprobates," " outcasts," will be 
found in the following extract from Dr. Southey's Life 
of Wesley : — " Near that city (Bristol) is a tract of 
country, called Kingswood ; formerly, as its name im- 
plies, it had been a royal chase, containing between 
three and four thousand acres, but it had been gradu- 
ally appropriated by the several lords whose estates 
lay round about its borders ; and their title, which for 
a long time was no better than what possession gave 
them, had been legalized. The deer had long since 
disappeared, and the greater part of the wood also ; 
and coal-mines having been discovered there, from 
which Bristol derives its chief supply of fuel, it was 
now inhabited by a race of people as lawless as the 
foresters, their forefathers, but far more brutal, and 
differing as much from the people of the surrounding 
country in dialect as in appearance. . . . When upon 
his last visit to Bristol, before his embarkation, White- 
field spoke of converting the savages, many of his 
friends said to him, 'What need of going abroad for 
this ? have not we Indians enough at home ? If you 



396 METHODIST HY2JX0L0GY. 

have a mind to convert Indians, there are colliers enough 
in Kingsivood.'' " 

Hymn 484. " Father of me and all mankind."— C. Wesley. 

"Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy 
name. Thy kingdom come." Lukezi, 2. This hymn 
comprises the first six quatrains of a paraphrase and 
enlargement on the Lord's Prayer, containing ten dou- 
ble stanzas. 

Hymn 485. c: All glory to God in the sky." 

Hymn 486. " Father, our hearts we lift." — C. Wesley. 

These two are " On the Nativity ;" the former, in 
the estimation of Mr. John Wesley, was the best of 
his brother's Nativity Hymns. 

Hymn 487. " All hail ! happy day." 

The authorship of this hymn is unknown ; but it is 
found in Bishops Coke and Asbury's "Pocket Hymn- 
book." 

In verse 3 there is an expression, which perhaps 
needs an explanation to make it clear to some minds : — 

" And acknowledge him JAH. the I AM." 
Also, 

Hymn 270—" JEHOVAH, GREAT I AM." 
Hymn 482 — " Jah, Jehovah, is my Lord." 
Hymn 484 — " And glorify the great I AM." 

Dr. Clarke, in his comment on Psalm lxviii, 4, " By 
his name JAH," says, " Yah, probably a contraction 
of the word Yehovah; at least, so the ancient versions 
understood it. It is used but in few places in the 
sacred writings. It might be translated, The Self- 
existent." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 39*7 

Hymn 488. " Shepherds, rejoice, lift tip your eyes." — Watts. 

" The Nativity of Christ," from the author's " Lyric 
Poems." 

Hymn 489. " While shepherds watch'd their flocks by night." 

Tate and Brady. 

A most delightful old pastoral, on the Nativity of 
our Lord. " There is," says the American editor of 
the " Christian Year," " much better poetry in the world 
than this : but it may be well doubted whether there 
are two other lines (the first two of the hymn) that will 
thrill as many hearts, or brighten as many eyes." The 
present writer feels the truth of these sentiments the 
more sensibly, from the fact that this precious old hymn 
is the first he ever remembers to have committed to 
memory, in the days of his childhood ; and he cannot 
help associating it with all that is green, and sunny, and 
innocent, in young existence, and all that is real and 
glorious in Christian experience. ! it is a happy re- 
flection, now that he is passing the meridian of life, to 
think that his first songs, like those of the angels on the 
morning of the nativity, were in praise of the Prince of 
peace. But this is not the place for such reflections. 

Hymn 490. "Hark! the herald angels sing." — C. Wesley. 

This is entitled, a " Hymn for Christmas-day," 
and contains ten quatrains, 7 and 10 being omitted, 
and the other eight thrown into four double verses. 
The author wrote the first two lines of the hymn as 
follow, which were altered by J. Wesley as they stand 
in the Hymn-book: — 

" Hark ! how all the welkin rings, 
' Glory to the King of kings.' " 



398 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

Hymn 491. " Mortals, awake, with angels join." — Medley. 

" The Nativity of Christ." From this spirited poem 
two verses have been rejected, and 6, 8, and 9, have 
been transposed, forming 7, 5, and 6, in the Hymn- 
book. The omitted stanzas, 5 and 7, are subjoined : — 

" Wrapp'd in the silence of the night, 
The world in darkness lay, 
When sudden, glorious, heavenly light, 
Burst in a flood of day." 

" for a glance of heavenly love, 
Our hearts and songs to raise ! 
Sweetly to bear our souls above, 
And mingle with their lays." 

Hymn 492. " Come, let us anew our journey pursue." 

Hymn 493. " The Lord of earth and sky.'' 

Hymn 494. " Sing to the great Jehovah's praise." — C. Wesley. 

Three of our poet's inimitable " New-Year Hymns :" 
the first remarkable for the joyousness of the meter, 
and union of matter and manner ; the second, a beau- 
tiful improvement and application of the Scripture 
parable of the "barren fig-tree;" and the third ends 
with a note worthy of the occasion and the theme : — 

" Our residue of days or hours, 

Thine, wholly thine, shall be : 
And all our consecrated powers 

A sacrifice to Thee ; 
Till Jesus in the clouds appear, 

To saints on earth forgiven, 
And bring the grand sabbatic year — 

The jubilee of heaven !" 

Hymn 495. " "Where is my God, my joy, my hope." — C. Wesley. 
Hymn 496. " "We left our hearts to Thee."— J". Wesley. 

The title of each of these is, " A Morning Hymn." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 399 

The former was undoubtedly written by C. "Wesley, as 
it is found among his Poems ; but the latter first ap- 
peared in a work containing original hymns by both 
brothers, and does not rhyme in the first and thirds lines 
of each verse. As there is not a single stanza known 
to be C. Wesley's with this defect, the hymn is, we 
believe, correctly attributed to his brother John, who 
was not so particular in this respect. 

Hymn 497. " All praise to Him who dwells in bliss." — C. Wesley. 

" An Evening Hymn." The following couplet, verse 
1, has not, perhaps, been generally understood : — 
" Whose throne is darkness in th' abyss 
Of uncreated light." 

" We suppose," says Dr. Summers, in a gloss on these 
lines, " the poet had his eye on such passages as the 
following : / will appear in the cloud upon the mercy- 
seat. Lev. xvi, 2. The Lord hath said that he would 
dwell in thick darkness. 2 Chron. vi, 1. Clouds and 
darkness are round about him. Psalm xcvii, 2. Com- 
pared with these : Who coverest thyself with light as 
with a garment. Psalm civ, 2. Who only hath im- 
mortality dtvelling in light which no man can approach 
unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see. 1 Tim. vi, 16. 
These opposing figures are finely expressive : ' light ' 
represents the purity and glory of the divine character 
— the ' darkness ' represents the incomprehensibility of 
the divine essence, the inscrutableness of Jehovah's de- 
signs, and the mysteries of his providence and grace. 
In regard to poetic machinery, clouds are usually em- 
ployed to produce darkness. In the couplet in ques- 
tion, however, the darkness is produced by distance 
and dazzling splendor. Milton has crowded together 



400 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

all those figures in that fine passage of Paradise Lost, 
book the third : — 

* Thee, Father, first they sung. Omnipotent, 
Immutable, Immortal, Infinite, 
Eternal King : thee, Author of all being, 
Fountain of light, thyself invisible 
Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sitt'st 
Throned inaccessible, but where thou shedd'st 
The full blaze of thy beams, and, though a cloud 
Drawn round about thee like a radiant shrine, 
Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear, 
Yet dazzle heaven, that brightest seraphim 
Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes.' " 

Hymn 498. " Giver and guardian of my sleep." — C. Wesley. 

This hymn is entitled, " At Waking," and contains 
fourteen stanzas. Hymn 165 is the latter part of the 
same poem. The omitted stanzas are 4, 1, 8, 9, and 
13. Verse 9 reads thus, — 

" Anger and lust thou wilt expel, 
And pride by stronger grace ; 
They can in me no longer dwell, 
When Jesus fills the place." 

Hymx 499. " When quiet in my house I sit.'* — C. Wesley. 

" Thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy 
house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when 
thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deut. vi, 7. 

Hymx 500. " Once more, my soul, the rising day." — Waits. 

" A Morning Song." Two stanzas, the fourth and 
fifth, rejected 

Hymx 501. " Lord, thou wilt hear me when I pray." — Watts. 
" An Evening Psalm." Psa. iv, 3-5, 8. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 401 

Hymn 502. "Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear." — Watts. 

"For the Lord's Day Morning." Psa. v. Eight 
stanzas ; 4 and 5 transposed, and the last three omitted. 

Hymn 503. " See how the morning sun." — Scott. 

"A Morning Hymn;" containing seven verses; the 
fourth, fifth, and sixth, excluded. The hymn originally 
commenced, " See how the mounting sun," &c. 

Hymn 504. " My God, how endless is thy love !" — Watts. 

" A Song for the Morning or Evening." Lam. hi, 23 ; 
Isaiah xlv, 1. 

Hymn 505. " Omnipresent God, whose aid." — C. Wesley. 

The original of this beautiful hymn, entitled, "At 
lying down," contains eight stanzas ; the first, fourth, 
and seventh of which, compose our hymn. Of the 
omitted verses, 5 and 8 are as follow : — 

" Only tell me I am thine, 

And thou wilt not quit thy right ; 
Answer me in dreams divine, 

Dreams and visions of the night : 
Bid my soul in sleep go on, 

Eestlessly its God desire ; 
Mourn for God in every groan, 

God in every thought require." 

" Or, if thou my soul require, 

Ere I see the morning light, 
Grant me, Lord, my heart's desire, 

Perfect me in love to-night ; 
Finish thy great work of love, 

Cut it short in righteousness ; 
Fit mc for the realms above, 

Change, and bid me die in peace." 



402 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 506. " Awake, my soul, to meet the day." — Doddridge. 

Dr. Doddridge rose at five o'clock throughout the 
year ; and he made the act of rising an exercise of 
devotion in this hymn, containing seven stanzas, which 
he entitled, " A Morning Hymn, to be sung at Awak- 
ing and Rising." It is said that with the words of the 
third verse — the sixth of the original — "As, rising 
now," upon his lips, he sprang out of bed. Our hymn 
is composed of verses 1, 2, 6, and 7. As a specimen 
of the excluded stanzas, take the fourth, — 

" My moments fly with winged pace, 
And swift my hours are hurl'd ; 
And death with rapid march comes on 
T' unveil th' eternal world." 

Hymn 507. u Now from the altar of our hearts." — Mason. 

This fine old hymn is entitled, " A Song of Praise 
for the Evening ;" and is inserted here in its primitive 
purity, unalloyed by the alterations and emendations 
of modern critics : — 

Now from the altar of my heart 

Let incense flames arise, 
Assist me, Lord, to offer up 

Mine evening sacrifice. 

Awake, my love ; awake, my joy, 

Awake, my heart and tongue ; 
Sleep not when mercies loudly call ; 

Break forth into a song. 

Man's life ; s a book of history. 

The leaves thereof are days, 
The letters, mercies, closely join'd, 

The title is thy praise. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 403 

This day God was my sun and shield, 

My keeper and my guide, 
His care was on my frailty shown, 

His mercies multiplied. 

Minutes and mercies multiplied 

Have made up all this day ; 
Minutes came quick, but mercies were 

More fleet and free than they. 

New time,, new favors, and new joys, 

lio a new song require ; 
Till I shall praise Thee as I would 

Accept my heart's desire. 

Lord of my time, whose hand hath set 

New time upon my score, 
Then shall I praise for all my time, 

When time shall be no moi'e. 

Excepting the third verse, this certainly is one of the 
best specimens of sacred devotional poetry in the Eng- 
lish language, whether regard be had to the thoughts 
contained in it, or to the manner of their expression. 
The poem has not the polish of a Pope, nor the ele- 
gance of a Wesley, both of whom our author preceded : 
but its diction is far before the prevailing style of the 
age ; its sentiments are lofty, original, and uncommon ; 
and the poem ends with a perfect epigram. The volume 
from which it was taken evidently furnished Watts and 
Wesley with some of their best thoughts ; while in the 
third stanza of the above hymn is found the germ from 
which Dr. Franklin extracted the conception of his well- 
known epitaph upon himself, wherein he compares his 
body to " the cover of an old book, the contents torn 
out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding," &c. 



404 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 508. " Father, to thee I lift mine eyes." — C. Wesley. 

Another of our poet's excellent hymns "For the 
Morning." The prayer contained in the third verse is 
admirable, and contains suitable petitions to be offered 
up to our Lord for his protection and blessing when we 
are about entering upon the duties of the day, or going 
out to mix with the world and its concerns. The last 
couplet is particularly expressive : — 

" Ever apprised of danger nigh, 
And when to fight, and when tofj." 

Hymn 509. " Thus far the Lord hath led me on."— Watts. 

" An Evening Hymn." Psa. lv, 8 ; hi, 5, 6 ; cxliii, 8. 
Two stanzas, 4 and 5, omitted. The former reads 
thus, — 

" In vain the sons of earth and hell 

Tell me a thousand frightful things : 
My God in safety makes me dwell 
Beneath the shadow of his wings." 

Hymn 510. " O God, my God, my all thou art." — J. Wesley. 

An exquisitely beautiful paraphrase of the sixty-third 
Psalm, being a translation from the French, by the 
founder of Methodism, entitled, " God our Portion." 
One stanza, the fourth, omitted. A late writer has 
noticed this hymn thus : " But there is one which stands 
pre-eminent, and which is almost unrivaled for its ele- 
vated devotional feeling, its rich evangelical sentiment, 
its simple elegance of language, and the accurate and 
beautiful manner in which, without any apparent effort, 
the poet has interwoven the thoughts and expressions 
of the Psalmist in his own sacred ode." — Christian 
Miscellany, 1846, p. 68. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 405 

Hymn 511. " God, only wise, almighty, good." 

Hymn 512. "Father of lights, thy needful aid." — C. Wesley. 

These are " Hymns for Parents," and inculcate some 
most excellent lessons for the proper government of a 
household ; among which that contained in the sixth 
verse, hymn 511, on the training of children, is not 
perhaps the least important : — 

" We would persuade their hearts t' ohey ; 
With mildest zeal proceed ; 
And never take the harsher way, 
When love will do the deed 

The allusion, in the fourth verse, to the thread which 
guides a person in a labyrinth, and prevents him from 
missing his way and being lost, is very striking and 
beautiful : — 

" And lend their youth a sacred clew 
To find the Crucified." 

From hymn 512 two quatrains, 1 and 8, are omitted. 

Hymn 513. " How shall I walk my God to please." — C. Wesley. 
" The Master's Hymn," containing seven stanzas ; 
4 and 5 excluded. Verse 4 is as follows, — 

" A lion in my house, shall I 
My tame inferiors terrify, 

By fierce tyrannic sway ; 

Despotic as an Eastern prince, 

By regal arguments convince, 

Compel them to obey ?" 

Such treatment can only make, in the language of 
the next stanza, " slaves' and hypocrites." But there 
is a " better way," and happy is every " master " of a 
family who can adopt as his own the closing language 
of the hymn : — 



406 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

" Lowly and meek in heart, I see 
The art of governing like thee 
Is governing by love" 

Hymn 514. " Come, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."— C. Wesley. 
This almost inimitable hymn was composed for, and 
doubtless originally sung - At the Opening of a School 
in Kingswood."* It has been brought as a charge, in 
effect, against Mr. John Wesley, that he preferred 
genuine piety, even when associated with ignorance, 
to irreligion, though adorned with learning and the ad- 
ventitious importance which wealth alone too often 
confers ; to assert this, however, is only saying that he 
had, in spirit, sat at the Saviour's feet, heard his word, 
and learned of him. But he saw no necessity for ei- 
ther ; and therefore he prayed himself, and, by putting 
the words into his Hymn-book, instructed his societies 
and followers to pray, in the language of the fifth 
verse, — 

" Unite the pair so long disjoin'd, 

Knowledge and vital piety : 
Learning and holiness combined, 

And truth and love, let all men see, 
In these, whom up to thee we give, 
Thine, wholly thine, to die and live." 

The fifth line of the second verse should read, — 
" Raised by the nurture" not the " nature, of the Lord." 

Hymn 515. "Master supreme, I look to thee." 
Hymn 516. "I and my house will serve the Lord." 
Hymn 517. "Father of all, by whom we are."— C. Wesley. 

These are three of our poet's most excellent hymns 

* For a description of the character of the Kingswood colliers, 
see remarks on hymn 483. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 40 7 

for masters and parents ; and contain sentiments, which, 
if carried out in practical life, would be in the highest 
degree beneficial to all concerned in a household. 
They are affectionately recommended by the writer to 
all for whom they were written, feeling assured they 
cannot fail of haying a beneficial tendency when pro- 
perly and prayerfully used. 

The first line of the fifth verse, hymn 515, originally 
read, — 

" The servant faithful and discreet." 

Hymn 518. " Captain of our salvation, take." — C. Wesley. 

This is one of " Hymns for Children, and others of 
Riper Years." 

Hymn 519. " The power to bless my house." — C. Wesley. 

" And all the people departed, every man to his 
house; and David returned to bless his house." 
1 Chron. xvi, 43. Two quatrains omitted. 

Hymn 520. " God of my life, to thee." — C. Wesley. 

This was composed by the author — " On his Birth- 
day." Two stanzas, the fifth and seventh, have been 
excluded. On the last two fines of the hymn, 

" Like Moses, to thyself convey, 
And kiss my raptured soul away," 

Mr. Burgess remarks: — "This bold and singular 
idea is founded on a Jewish tradition, relative to the 
death of that eminent man, (Moses.) We read, (Deut. 
xxxiv, 5,) that Moses died according to the word of the 
Lord, or, literally, from the Hebrew, at the mouth of 
Jehovah ; which by some of the Jewish rabbins is inter- 



408 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

preted as meaning, that God drew the soul or spirit of 
Moses out of his body with a kiss." Dr. Watts, in his 
" Lyric Poems," in the poem on " the death of Moses," 
has precisely the same idea : — 

" Softly his fainting head he lay 

Upon his Maker's hreast ; 

His Maker Jciss'd his soul away, 

And laid his flesh to rest." 

Some persons deem it improper to introduce such 
sentiments into the psalmody of the Christian church. 
"We confess, to our mind, there is nothing objectionable 
in either of the above instances ; but rather a most 
delicate, though striking, touch of the sublime and 
beautiful. 

Hymn 521. " Away with our fears !" — C. Wesley. 

As the preceding hymn was written by the poet on 
his own birthday, so he wrote this for his brother John, 
" On his Birthday." Two stanzas, the second and 
eighth, omitted ; the lattef contains what but few per- 
sons, besides the founder of Methodism, could say of 
their friends : — 

" How rich in friends, Thy providence sends, 
To help my infirmity on ; 
What a number I see, Who could suffer for me, 
And ransom my life with their own /" 

Verse 8 alludes to the work of God which was carried 
on by his instrumentality in Europe and America : — 

" With my pastoral crook, I went over the brook, 
And behold I am spread into bands." 

The hymn was inserted in the English Hymn-book 
about eleven years before his death, and, says Mr. 



METHODIST HTMNOLOGT. 409 

Jackson, very correctly expresses the predominant feel- 
ing of his heart at this period of his life. 

Hymn 522. " The Lord of sabbath let us praise." — S. Wesley, Jun. 
The first four stanzas, which constitute a complete 
hymn, are entitled, " A Hymn for Sunday." Verses 
5 and 6 belong to another hymn of the same author : 
3 and 4 are of great excellence, the couplet, 

" 'Twas great to speak a world from naught ; 
'Twas greater to redeem !" 

being equal to any in the language, if indeed it can be 
equaled, except in the sacred writings. " There is 
nothing, even in the poetry of his brother Charles, to 
exceed the energy of the thoughts and expression in 
the third and fourth verses." — Floy. 

Hymn 523. " Our Lord is risen from the dead." — C. Wesley. 

" Lift up your heads, ye gates ; and be ye lifted 
up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King of glory shall 
come in," &c. Psalm xxiv, 7-10. 

Hymn 524. " He dies! the Friend of sinners dies !" — Watts. 

" Christ dying, rising, and reigning." The author 
wrote the first quatrain thus, — 

" He dies ! the heavenly Lover dies ! 
The tidings strike a doleful sound 
On my poor heart-strings : deep he lies 
In the cold caverns of the ground." 

Hymn 525. " Ye faithful souls, who Jesus know." — C. Wesley. 

The first four stanzas are foimded on Colos. iii, 1, 
2 ; and the last two on verses 3 and 4 of the same 
chapter. 

18 



410 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 526. " Sweet is the work, my God, my King." — Watts. 

"A Psalm for the Lord's Day:" the first part of 
Psalm xcii: three stanzas, 3, 4, and 6, omitted; the 
first of which is as follows : — 

" Fools never raise their thoughts so high ; 
Like brutes they live, like brutes they die ; 
Like grass they flourish, till Thy breath 
Blasts them in everlasting death." 

Hymn 527. "May I, throughout this day of thine." — C. Wesley. 
" I was in the spirit on the Lord's day." Rev. i, 10. 

Hymn 528. " Welcome, sweet day of rest." — Watts. 
" The Lord's Day ; or, Delight in Ordinances." 

Hymn 529. " Return, my soul, enjoy thy rest." — J. Stennett. 

A poem " On the Sabbath," containing fourteen 
stanzas ; the first, fourth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and 
thirteenth of w^hich, constitute our hymn. Hymn 695 
is the same, with alterations, and the omission of two 
verses. In neither version is preserved the integrity 
of the original text. This old hymn has many admirers ; 
and as verses 1, 2, 3, and 5, have imdergone the great- 
est alterations, they are here presented as the author 
wrote them : — 

" Another six days' work is done ; 

Another sabbath is begun : 

Return, my soul, unto thy rest ; 

Revere the day thy God has bless'd. 

" For servile work six days are given ; 
For sacred use but one in seven : 
"When for my work God gives such time, 
Shall I begrudge a day to him ? 

" O that my thoughts and words may rise 
As incense to propitious skies ; 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 411 

And fetch from heaven that sweet repose 
Which none but he that feels it knows. 

" With joy God's wondrous works I view, 
In various scenes, both old and new: 
With praise I think on mercies past ; 
With hope, of future pleasures taste." 

Hymn 530. " The Saviour meets his flock to-day." — Cennich. 

The title of this is, " Before going to Church :" five 
stanzas ; the second omitted. The emendations in this 
hymn are so numerous as to change almost entirely the 
character of some of the stanzas. Take, for example, 
the third, — 

" Then, my Lord, permit me power, 
And, like the saint, I '11 watch for thee ; 
Content to wait th' appointed hour, 

When thou shalt be reveal'd in me : 
Daily my soul within thy gate 
Shall for thy gracious coming wait." 

The first line of the second verse should read, — 

" How long did faithful Anna wait V* 

The omitted stanza is incorrigible. 

Hymn 531. " Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire." 
Hymn 532. "Father of all, in whom alone." — C. Wesley. 

These are two beautiful and appropriate hymns to 
be used " Before reading the Scriptures." The second 
stanza of hymn 531 is always sung in Wesleyan 
churches in England just before preaching, the con- 
gregation standing : — 

" Come, Holy Ghost, for, moved by thee, 
The prophets wrote and spoke ; 
Unlock the truth, thyself the key, 
Unseal the sacred book." 



412 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 533. " Inspirer of the ancient seers." — C. Wesley. 

" All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
instruction in righteousness : that the man of God may- 
be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 
2 Tim. iii, 16, 17. 

Hymn 534. " The counsels of redeeming grace." — S. Stennett. 

This is entitled " The Riches of God's Word," and 
commences with the following two verses, which are 
omitted from the Hymn-book, — 

" Let avarice, from shore to shore, 
Her fav'rite god pursue, 
Thy word, Lord, we value more 
Than India or Peru. 

" Her mines of knowledge, love, and joy, 
Are open'd to our sight ; 
The purest gold without alloy, 
And gems divinely bright." 

Hymn 535. " Father of mercies, in thy word." — Steele. 

" The Excellency of the Holy Scriptures :" twelve 
stanzas; 1, 3, 4, 9, 11, and 12 of which, compose our 
hymn. 

Hymn 536. " Spirit of truth, essential God." — C. Wesley. 

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." 2 Tim. 
iii, 16. " Holy men of God spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Ghost." 2 Pet. i, 21. The author wrote 
the fifth line of verse 3 thus, — 

" In each the triune God adore." 

Hymn 537. "Leader of faithful souls, and guide."— C. Wesley. 
The title of this is, "The Traveler," and contains 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 418 

eight stanzas, the fifth and seventh of which are ex- 
cluded. 

It has been remarked in reference to the poetry of 
Charles Wesley, that he seldom makes any allusion to 
natural objects, which is so characteristic of Dr. Watts. 
It is true that nature's God, and his dealings with man, 
together with man's degeneracy, his duty to offended 
Deity, and Christian experience, through all its grades, 
from the first dawn of a desire for salvation to the 
transports of perfect love, constitute the chief glory of 
Charles Wesley's hymns ; but that he was not entirely 
blind to the beauties of nature may be fairly inferred 
from the following omitted stanza : — 

" Even now we taste the pleasures there, 
A cloud of spicy odors comes, 
Soft wafted by the balmy air, 

Sweeter than Araby's perfumes ; 
From Zion's top the breezes blow, 
And cheer us in the vale below." 

Hymn 538. " I long to behold Him array'd." — C. Wesley. 

" Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty : they 
shall behold the land that is very far off." Isaiah xxxiii, 
17. "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick." Isaiah 
xxxiii, 24. The first two stanzas are founded upon the 
former, and the third stanza on the latter, text.. 

Hymn 539. " There is a land of pure delight." — Watts. 

" A Prospect of Heaven makes Death easy." Two 
stanzas, four and five, are omitted ; the former is ex- 
pressive, but differs in idea from the title: — 

" But tim'rous mortals start and shrink 
To cross this narrow sea ; 
And linger, shiv'ring on the brink, 
And fear to launch away" 



414 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Dr. S. Stennett probably had this verse in his mind 
when he composed the following stanza ; but he has 
improved it : his " mortal " is not the least " timorous." 
How delightfully he sings : — 

" Fill'd with delight, my raptured Soul 
Would here no longer stay ! 
Though Jordan's waves around me roll, 
Fearless Vd launch away." 

Watts wrote his hymns in early life, in the beautiful 
town of Southampton, a spot in view of the enchanting 
Isle of Wight. Tradition points out the place, where, 
just across the channel, that sweet island presents 
itself to the enraptured sight, and we are told that here 
he wrote this hymn. The whole hymn derives a fine 
illustration from the scenery, especially such lines as, 

" There everlasting spring abides, 
And never-fading flowers ; 
Death, like a narrow sea, divides 
This heavenly land from ours. 

" Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood 
Stand dress'd in living green ; 
So to the Jews old Canaan stood, 
While Jordan rolTd between." 

Hymn 540. " Thou, Lord, on whom I still depend." — C. Wesley. 

" Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a 
crown of life," &c. Rev. ii, 10, 11, 17. Three stanzas 
rejected. 

Hymn 541. "Away with our sorrow and fear." 

Hymn 542. " We know, by faith we know." — C. Wesley. 

These are two of our poet's inimitably sublime and 
beautiful Funeral Hymns. The imagery of hymn 541 
is taken from the description of " that great city, the 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 415 

holy Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven," 
recorded in the twenty-first chapter of Revelation. If 
the reader would properly appreciate the surpassing 
grandeur of this composition, he must peruse it in con- 
nection with the passage of Scripture to which we have 
alluded. St. John the divine, and Charles Wesley the 
poet of Methodism, drew their inspiration from the same 
sacred source — the perennial spring of divine love — 
and consecrated their sanctified genius to the same holy 
purposes. The second stanza has been omitted from 
hymn 542 : — 

- Beneath our earthly load 

We labor now and groan, 
And hasten toward that house of God, 

And struggle to be gone : 
We would not, Lord, desire 

An end of misery, 
But Thee our earnest souls require, 

We long to die for thee." 

Hymn 543. " The church in the militant state." — C. Wesley. 

" The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him 
that heareth say, Come." Rev. xxii, 17. 

Hymn 544. " Lift your eyes of faith, and see." 

Hymn 545. " Who are these array 'd in white." — C. Wesley. 

These were originally published in the volume en- 
titled, " Hymns on the Lord's Supper," under the head, 
" The Sacrament, a Pledge of Heaven." The author 
wrote in the first line of hymn 545, "What are these?" 
&c, which is a most admirable paraphrase of Revela- 
tion vii, 13-17, "What are these which are arrayed in 
white robes ? and whence came they ?" &c. Mr. Mont- 
gomery has written a hymn on the same passage of 



416 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Scripture, entitled, * The Song of the Hundred and 
Forty and Four Thousand," commencing, 

" What are these in bright array f 
in which he has imitated Charles Wesley in meter, 
matter, and manner. This, we think, will appear evi- 
dent from the following collation of the last stanza of 
Montgomery's hymn, with the same number of lines 
from Wesley's, which are printed in italics : — 

" Hunger, thirst, disease, unknown, 
Hunger now and thirst no more, 
On immortal fruits they feed, 
Them the Lamb shall always feed, 
Them the Lamb amidst the throne, 
He that on the throne doth reign, 
Shall to living fountains lead, 
To the living fountains lead, 
Joy and gladness banish sighs, 
All their wants at once remove, 
Perfect love dispels their fears, 
Fill up every soul ivith love, 
And for ever from their eyes 
He shall all their sorrows chase, 
God shall wipe away the tears, 
Wipe the tears from every face." 

Hymn 546. " On Jordan's stormy banks I stand." — S. Stennett. 
" The Promised Land." A close imitation of Dr. 
Watts's beautiful hymn, (see 539,) beginning, — 

" There is a land of pure delight." 
The last stanza was added by a later hand. 

Hymn 547. " My span of life will soon be done." 

" For what is your life ? It is even a vapor, that 
appeareth for a little time." James iv, 14. This hymn 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 4 It 

was inserted in the second part of the double Hymn- 
book, " compiled under the direction of Bishop Asbury," 
in 1809. The authorship is unknown. The first qua- 
train of the fourth verse has been thought by some to 
contain Calvinistic tenets : — 

" Ere first I drew this vital breath, 
From nature's prison free, 
Crosses in number, measure, weight, 
Were written, Lord, for me." 

Hymn 548. " How happy is the pilgrim's lot." — J. Wesley. 

This old familiar hymn is entitled, " The Pilgrim ;" 
and, including one omitted verse, with much propriety 
mighj; be considered an epitome of Mr. John Wesley's 
autobiography. In the first stanza he speaks of the 
" pilgrim," meaning himself, in the third person, thus, — 

" Confined to neither court nor cell, 
His soul disdains on earth to dwell, 
He only sojourns here." 

But in the second, and every succeeding stanza, the 
pronoun is changed from the third to the first person ; 
and he no longer says he and his, but I and my ; hence 
every verse of the hymn contains personal allusions to 
some extraordinary traits in the character of the vene- 
rable founder of Methodism. Although there is, in the 
first stanza, a general reference to the happiness of 
the Christian pilgrim ; that it has also special reference 
to himself, as above intimated, is evident from the very- 
first line of the next verse, wherein he exclaims, " This 
happiness in jiart is mine/" — but it must have been the 
better part, as it produced in him a scorn of creature love 
and finite yood. In the third stanza we hear him re- 
nounce the honors, wealth, and pleasures, of the world ; 
18* 



418 METHODIST HYMNOLOGT. 

in the fourth, we are told, although he has no babes to 
bind him here, he has children dearer to him than sons 
or daughters ; in the fifth, we have the characteristic 
fact that he owns not one foot of land ; in the sixth, he 
calls himself a stranger seeking a city out of sight ; in 
the seventh, he tells us angels are beckoning him away, 
and Jesus calls him home ; and in the last, he declares 
his readiness to obey the summons, desires that his pil- 
grimage may end, and asks to be received to the bosom 
of his Saviour and Friend. 

The perusal of this hymn is calculated to bring many 
reminiscences to the mind familiar with events in the 
life of the author ; one of which may be mentioned 
here, in which Mr. Wesley himself quotes a stanza of 
the hymn. Not long before he ended his useful life of 
glory and of shame, some unprovoked and unjust at- 
tacks were made upon his moral character. His reply 
was : — " I am not a man of duplicity. I am not an old 
hypocrite, a double-tongued knave. I now tell a plain 
tale, that the good which is in one may not be evil- 
spoken of. I have no temporal end to serve. I seek 
not the honor that cometh of men. It is not for plea- 
sure that, at this time of life, I travel three or four 
thousand miles a year. It is not for gain : — 

' No foot of land do I possess, 
No cottage in the wilderness ; 

A poor wayfaring man. 
I lodge awhile in tents below, 
Or gladly wander to and fro, 

Till I my Canaan gain.' " 

The eloquent Rev. Samuel Bradburn, long his inti- 
mate friend, in his sketch of Mr. Wesley's character, 
says of him, that after astonishing the world by the 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 419 

labors of his ministry for more than half a century, " to 
the close of his life he could boldly declare, without 
fearing to be confronted, — 

' The things eternal I pursue, 
A happiness beyond the view 

Of those who basely pant 
For things by nature felt and seen ; 
Their honors, wealth, and pleasures mean, 

I neither have nor want.' 

I can scarcely refrain," continues Mr. Bradburn, "from 
exclaiming, — 

' O for a clap of thunder, as loud 
As to be heard throughout the universe, 
To tell the world the fact, and to applaud it.' " 

The fourth stanza is omitted; for which, and some 
further remarks on this hymn, see pages 144, 145. 

Hymn 549. " Still out of the deepest abyss." — C. Wesley. 

One of the " Redemption Hymns." " This hymn," 
says Dr. Floy, " is in the strong language which can be 
used only by one who has fought and gained the vic- 
tory. It is doubtful whether even such a one ought to 
indulge in ' passionate longings for home.' " This 
thought occurs in several of Charles Wesley's hymns. 

Hymn 550. " Thee we adore, eternal Name !" — Watts. 

" Frail Life and Succeeding Eternity." The writer 
above quoted, referring to this hymn, says the author's 
" muse delighted to dwell on gloomy subjects." The 
conceit of the last couplet of verse 2 is not less " gloomy " 
than trite : — 

" And every beating pulse we tell 
Leaves but the number /ess." 



420 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 551. " And am I born to die V 

Hymn 552. "And am I only born to die?" — C. Wesley. 

Two of the Methodist poet's excellent Hymns for 
Children, and others of riper years. 

Hymn 553. " O God! our help in ages past." — Watts. 

" Man frail, and God eternal." Psalm xc, 1-5. Two 
stanzas, 4 and 8, are omitted ; the latter reads thus, — 
" Like flow'ry fields the nations stand, 
Pleased with the morning light ; 
The flowers beneath the mower's hand 
Lie withering ere 'tis night." 

Hymn 554. "And must this body die." — Watts. 

" Triumph over Death in Hope of the Resurrection." 
The couplet of verse 2, 

" Corruption, earth, and worms. 
Shall but refine this flesh," 

and another in Harts's hymn, 570, 

" Thy flesh, perhaps thy greatest care, 
Shall crawling worms consume? 

in the opinion of some, teach not only a very unplea- 
sant, but an untenable, doctrine, namely, that our bodies 
will be eaten by worms after they are deposited in the 
grave. There appeared in the Christian Advocate and 
Journal, vol. xxi, No. 13, p. 52, an article by a corres- 
pondent, throwing much doubt upon, if not entirely 
disproving, the very existence of such a reptile as the 
grave-worm. In some prefatory remarks to this article, 
the venerable and learned editor says of his correspond- 
ent : — " Although we must take time to consider the 
matter before we make up a decided judgment, we are 
free to say, that he has led us to suspect that poets, 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 421 

not philosophy nor observation, have produced the 
almost universal admission of the hypothesis, that 
worms destroy the human body in the depths of the 
grave." See observations on hymn 666. 

Hymn 555. " And let this feeble body fail." — C. Wesley. 

" The sufferings of this present time are not worthy 
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed 
in us." Rom. viii, 18. Eighteen quatrains; 1, 2, 3, 4, 
9, 11, IV, and 18 of which, compose our hymn. The 
omitted quatrains, except 15 and 16, are subjoined in 
their proper connection : 

" Surely he will not long delay; 

I hear his Spirit cry, 
' Arise, ray love, make haste away ! 

Go, get thee np and die. 
O'er death, who now has lost his sting, 

I give the victory ; 
And with me my reward I bring, 

I bring my heaven for thee.' 

" Lord, I the welcome word receive, 

Thee on the mount adore, 
For thy dear sake content to live 

Some painful moments more : 
I live in holy grief and joy, 

On Pisgah's top I stand, 
And life's important point employ, 

To view the promised land." 

" what hath Jesus bought for me ! 

Before my ravish'd eyes 
Rivers of life divine I see, 

And trees of paradise ! 
They nourish in perpetual bloom, 

Fruit every month they give : 
And to the healing leaves who come 

Eternally shall live. 



422 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

" I see a world of spirits bright, 

Who reap the pleasures there ! 
They all are robed in spotless white, 

And couqu'ring palms they bear : 
Adorn'd by their Redeemer's grace, 

They close pursue the Lamb, 
And every shining front displays 

Th' unutterable name. 

" They drink the vivifying stream, 

They pluck th' ambrosial fruit, 
And each records the praise of Him 

Who tuned his golden lute : 
At once they strike th' harmonious wire, 

And hymn the great Three-one : 
He hears ; he smiles ; and all the choir 

Fall down before his throne." 

The author wrote the last couplet of the hymn thus, — 

" I come to find them all again 
In that eternal day." 

Hymn 556. " Happy soul, thy days are ended." — C. Wesley. 

This was composed for a dying person, and is en- 
titled, ''For One departing." It is a very appropriate 
hymn for so solemn an occasion. 

Hymn 557. " Ah, lovely appearance of death !" — C. Wesley 

" On the Sight of a Corpse," from the author's 
Funeral Hymns. There are, and always have been, a 
great variety of opinions in reference to this hymn. 
One writer says, it is in a strain of Ayper-hyperbole, 
and might well be superseded ; and our brethren of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, have excluded it 
from their excellent new Hymn-book. 

The first line of the hymn was probably suggested 
to the mind of the poet by a passage on the death of 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 423 

the young and beautiful Narcissa, in "The Complaint/' 
Night third. Dr. Young thus sings, — 

" Like blossom'd trees o'erturn'd by vernal storm, 
Lovely in death the beauteous ruin lay; 
And if in death still lovely, lovelier there ; 
Far lovelier ; pity swells the tide of love." 

Mrs. Hemans also has a similar passage : — 

" And is this death, dread thing ! 
If such thy visiting, 

How beautiful thou art .'" 

Mr. Burgess says : " This is a very fine and deeply 
affecting hymn. To the death of a Christian believer 
it is very appropriate ; though it is only under peculiar 
circumstances, and for a very short time, that we can 
ever pronounce the appearance of death lovely. It is 
only when we lose sight of the degradation of the body, 
and are powerfully impressed with an assurance of the 
safety and felicity of the soul, that we can enter into 
the poet's views and feelings. And allowing that the 
poetry is beautiful and excellent in a high degree, there 
are, notwithstanding, expressions which cannot be justi- 
fied ; such as, 

' In love with the beautiful clay, 
And longing to lie in its stead.' 

{ Whose relics with envy I see.' 

The wish expressed in the last verse is quite in unison 
with the feelings of one who is wrought up into a sort 
of poetic phrensy, — 

' What now with my tears I bedew, 
O might I this moment become !' 

Such words, if uttered by any but a true believer, 



424 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

would evince presumption and madness, and would be 
equivalent to a prayer for instant damnation." 

The first and last verses of this hymn ought never, 
on any occasion, to be given out for singing. 

Hymn 558. " Rejoice for a brother deceased." 

Hymn 559. " ; Tis finish'd, 'tis done, the spirit is fled." 

Hymn 560. <: Hosanna to Jesus on high !" 

Hyain 561. " Blessing, honor, thanks, and praise." — C. Wesley. 

Four of our poet's inimitable Funeral Hymns. 
Verse 3 of 558 was a favorite with the author him- 
self, in the decline of life. Mr. Moore relates the fol- 
lowing anecdote of him when nearly eighty years of 
age. His appearance and habits were peculiar. " He 
rode," says he, " every day (clothed for winter even in 
summer) a little horse, gray with age. When he 
mounted, if a subject struck him, he proceeded to ex- 
pand and put it in order. He would write a hymn 
thus given him on a card, (kept for that purpose,) with 
his pencil, in short hand. Not unfrequently he has 
come to the house in the City-road, and, having left 
the pony hi the garden in front, he would enter, crying 
out, ' Pen and ink ! pen and ink !' These being sup- 
plied, he wrote the hymn he had been composing. 
When tins was done, he would look round on those 
present, and salute them with much kindness, and thus 
put all in mind of eternity. He was fond of the 
following stanza upon those occasions : — 

' There all the ship's company meet, 
Who sail'd with the Saviour beneath ; 

With shouting each other they greet, 
And triumph o'er sorrow and death. 

The voyage of life 's at an end, 
The mortal affliction is past ; 



METHODIST HYMNOLOOY. 425 

The age that in heaven they spend 
For ever and ever shall last.' " 

Hymn 559 is characterized by an admirable union of 

sentiment and expression, and joyousness of meter. 

Where can be found in our language a more striking 

exemplification of the beautiful thought in Thomson's 

much-admired line, 

" Come, then, expressive silence, muse his praise" 

than in the allusion to the seraphim, in the fourth 

stanza ? — 

" O Jesus ! lead on thy militant care ; 
And give us the crown of righteousness there, 
Where, dazzled with glory, the seraphim gaze ; 
Or prostrate adore thee, in silence of praise." 

In the second quatrain of verse 2, hymn 5 GO, de- 
scribing the glorious appearance of the Saviour, our 
poet thus sings : — 

" He looks — and his servants in light 
The blessings ineffable meet : 
He smiles — and they faint at his sight, 
And fall overwhelm'd at his feet." 

These lines probably suggested to Muhlenberg the 
fine idea in the last line of his hymn, " I would not 
live alway :" — 

" And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul." 

Hymn 562. " Why should we start and fear to die." 

Hymn 563. " Hark ! from the tombs a doleful sound." — Watts. 

These are two of Dr. Watts's hymns on the subject 
of death, and its attendant circumstances. The first is 
entitled, " Christ's Presence makes Death easy :" the 
second, " A Funeral Thought." May both the writer 
and the reader, when they come to that inevitable 



426 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

event, to which there is so delightful allusion in the last 
verse of hymn 562, experience in their own souls the 
truth of those oft-quoted and familiar lines, — 

" Jesus can make a dying bed 

Teel soft as downy pillows are, 
While on his breast I lean my head, 
And breathe my life out sweetly there." 

Hymn 564. " Hark ! a voice divides the sky." — C. Wesley. 

Another Funeral Hymn. The antithesis in the second 
quatrain of the third double stanza is perfect and 
striking : — 

" When from flesh the spirit freed, 
Hastens homeward to return, 
Mortals cry, ' A man is deadV 
Angels sing, ' A child is born V " 

It not only exhibits a pleasing opposition of ideas, 
and great ingenuity as well as simplicity of poetic 
structure ; but it also indicates a truth that every truly 
pious heart will delight to contemplate, which is thus 
expressed in the next verse : — 

" Born into the world above, 

They our happy brother greet ; 
Bear him to the throne of love, 
Place him at the Saviour's feet." 

Hymn 565. "Why do we mourn for dying friends." — Watts. 

" The Death and Burial of a Saint." The poet wrote 
the first line thus, — 

" Why do we mourn departing friends. 

Hymn 566. " Shrinking from the cold hand of death." 

C. Wesley. 

" Jacob gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 427 

up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people." 
Gen. xlix, 33. " Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, 
and Aaron died there in the top of the mount." Num. 
xx, 28. Yerses 1 and 2 are founded on the former, 
and 3 on the latter, text. The last two stanzas, 4 and 5, 
are not in the Wesleyan Hymn-book. Connected with 
the third verse of this hymn there is an interesting 
anecdote related of John Wesley by Mr. Moore, 
When his increasing infirmities were perhaps more ap- 
parent to his friends than to himself, " he would," says 
his biographer, " omit none of his religious duties or 
labors. Herein he would listen to no advice. His 
almost continual prayer was, ' Lord, let me not live to 
be useless !' At every place, after giving to the society 
what he desired them to consider as his last advice, 
' To love as brethren, fear God, and honor the king,' 
he invariably concluded with the verse : — 

' O that without a ling'ring groan 

I may the welcome word receive ! 
My body with my charge lay down, 
And cease at once to work and live.' " 

Hymn 567. "Pass a few swiftly fleeting years." — C. Wesley. 

"I am going the way of all the earth." Joshua 
xxiii, 14. 

Hymn 568. " The morning flowers display their sweets." 

S. Wesley, Jun. 

This much-admired hymn was "occasioned by the 
death of a young lady," and is founded on Isaiah xl, 
6, 8 : " All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof 

as the flower of the field The grass Avithereth, 

the flower fadeth ; but the word of our God shall stand 



428 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

for ever." The author has completed his task in a most 
interesting and pleasing manner. This imagery is 
touching, and although the subject is of a melancholy- 
character, he has thrown light among the shadows, and 
intermingled beauty with the gloom. The hymn can- 
not be read without emotion. 

Hymn 569. "Again we lift our voice." — C. Wesley. 

This was composed " On the Death of Samuel Hitch- 
ens," one of Mr. Wesley's first preachers, who died in 
the year 174*7, after itinerating two years. From the 
fifth stanza we learn that he was very young : — 

" Thou, in thy youthful prime, 
Hast leap'd the bounds of time : 

Suddenly from earth released, 
Lo ! we now rejoice for thee, 

Taken to an early rest, 
Caught into eternity." 

The poet, in the second line of verse 1, wrote "solemn 
joys," which preserves the rhyme. 

Hymn 570. " Vain man, thy fond pursuits forbear." — Hart. 

On Death ; six stanzas, the last two rejected. See 
hymn 554 for some remarks on the second line of 
verse 4, — 

" Shall crawling worms consume." 

Hymn 571. " Thy life I read, my gracious Lord." — S. Stennett. 
" Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them 
not, to come unto me ; for of such is the kingdom of 
heaven." Matt, xix, 14. The fourth stanza is often 
quoted, and enunciates a comfortable doctrine for dis- 
consolate parents mourning the decease of dear 
children : — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 429 

" Death may the bands of life unloose, 
But can't dissolve my love ; 
Millions of infant souls compose 
The family above." 

Hymn 572. " Thou Judge of quick and dead." — C. Wesley. 
One of the author's " Hymns for the Watchnight." 

Hymn 573. " Lo ! He comes, with clouds descending." 
Hymn 574. "He comes ! He comes ! the Judge severe." 

C. Wesley. 

These are on the judgment, entitled, " Thy Kingdom 
come." Mr. Jackson, in his Life of Thomas Olivers, 
says, " It should also be stated that the hymn beginning, 

' Lo ! he comes, with clouds descending,' 
and the fine tune to which it is set in Mr. Wesley's 
' Sacred Harmony,' were both composed by Mr. Oli- 
vers." The writer is convinced that Mr. Jackson is in 
error as to Mr. Olivers being the author of both the tune 
and the hymn in question. That he composed the tune 
there is no reason to doubt ; but the hymn is found in 
Mr. C. Wesley's " Hymns of Intercession for all Man- 
kind," 1*758, and Mr. Jackson himself mentions this in 
his notice of that work, in the Life of the author, and 
yet unhesitatingly — for he makes no exceptions — attri- 
butes the hymn, with others, to Charles Wesley. How 
this inadvertency on the part of Mr. Jackson occurred, 
we cannot certainly tell ; but suppose that the confu- 
sion of facts arose from Mr. Olivers having adapted a 
tune to Wesley's words, the meter and subject being the 
same as hymn 580, which was published originally, in 
the same work, on the opposite page to 573. 

In thus attempting to deprive Olivers of the reputa- 
tion he has so long enjoyed, as to the authorship in 



430 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

question, the writer has but one object to subserve — 
that of truth. Could he adduce stronger evidence in 
favor of Olivers than of Wesley, he would gladly pre- 
sent it ; but he cannot, and the poet of Methodism must, 
for the future, wear the bays. 

Hymn 575. " Thou God of glorious majesty." — C. Wesley. 

This is entitled, " A Hymn for Seriousness." Mr. 
Thomas Roberts, in his excellent " Dissertation" on 
hymnology, describing Charles Wesley's character as 
a poet, alludes to this hymn thus : " Religion exhibits 
those tremendously interesting themes which give a 
living energy to the judgment ; and, if so bold a figure 
may be permitted, hang the eternal state of the reader 
upon every line of the poet ; he grasps, through the 
irresistible agency of the conscience, that titular divini- 
ty, that secondary Omnipotence within us, our essential 
interests, infinite and everlasting in their result ; and 
quickens all the feelings of the soul into unspeakable 
sensibility. How, for instance, must that poet have felt, 
who, realizing, (verse 4,) 

1 in dread array, 

The pomp of that tremendous day,' 

places at the same time (verse 1) 

' A half-awaken'd child of man ' 
upon a stupendous site, respecting his personal concern 
in the awful process of the judgment, — a site which 
makes dizzy the very imagination of the reader, in its 
bare contemplation ! — (verse 2) 

1 Lo ! on a narrow neck of land, 
'Twixt two wibounded seas, I stand 
Secure, insensible ! 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 431 

A point of time — a moment's space — 
Removes me to that heavenly place, 
Or — shuts me up in hell !' " 

Mr. Montgomery, also, in his " Christian Psalmist," has 
expressed his opinion of the character of this hymn. 
It is, says he, " a sublime contemplation ; solemn, col- 
lected, unimpassioned thought, but thought occupied 
with that which is of everlasting import to a dying man, 
standing on the lapse of a moment between * two eter- 
nities.' " 

Similar in thought and expression is the language of 
the poet, — 

" Death stands between eternity and time 
With open jaws, on such a narrow bridge, 
That none can pass, but must become his prey." 

Hymn 576. " Stand, th' omnipotent decree." — C. Wesley. 

This fine hymn was written and published in 1756, 
and makes special allusion to the earthquake which 
destroyed the city of Lisbon in that year. It is thus 
characterized by the eminent and pious living poet men- 
tioned above : " The hymn on the Day of Judgment, 
' Stand, the omnipotent decree,' begins with a note, 
abrupt and awakening, like the sound of the last trumpet. 
This is altogether one of the most daring and victorious 
nights of our author." 

Upon comparing this hymn, and the following quota- 
tion from the Sixth Book of the " Night Thoughts," it 
will be found that some of the striking ideas of the 
latter have been used with good effect by Charles Wes- 
ley, who could, when occasion served, says Mr. Jack- 
son, " surpass Young himself in living energy, both of 
thought and expression." Young exclaims, — 



432 METHODIST HYMNOLOGT. 

" Of man immortal 1 hear the lofty style : 
If so decreed, th' Almighty will be done. 
Let earth dissolve, yon pond'rous orbs descend, 
And grind us into dust. The soul is safe, 
The man emerges ; mounts above the wreck, 
As tow'ring flame from nature's funeral pyre ; 
O'er devastation, as a gainer, smiles ; 
His charter, his inviolable rights, 
"Well-pleased to learn from thunder's impotence, 
Death's pointless darts, and hell's defeated storms." 

But the poet of Methodism was not indebted to Young 
alone for some of the fine thoughts embodied like pearls 
in his pious poems ; he has also laid under contribution 
to his heavenly muse some of the best Christian au- 
thors, both poets and prose -writers. And this is no 
disparagement ; for although his own resources were 
an inexhaustible mine, his very intimate acquaintance 
with the works of those authors, whose respective ex- 
cellences he properly appreciated, induced him occa- 
sionally to use the same, or similar thoughts, as they, 
always illumined, however, by the promethean fires of 
his own genius. 

Hymn 577. "And must I be to judgment brought." — C. Wesley. 

One of the author's " Hymns for Children," entitled, 
"A Thought on the Judgment," embracing eight stan- 
zas ; the last three omitted. 

Hymn 578. " The great archangel's trump shall sound." 

C. Wesley. 

Written " After a Deliverance from Death by the Fall 
of a Horse." Twelve stanzas ; the first five excluded, 
wherein special reference is made to the circumstance 
mentioned in the title. We insert two verses, 2 and 3, — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 433 

" How bless'd whom Jesus calls his own, 
How quiet, and secure from harms ! 
The adversary cast us down, 
The Saviour caught us in his arms. 

" 'Twas Jesus check'd his straiten'd chain, 

And curb'd the malice of our foe, 

Allow'd to touch our flesh with pain, 

No further could the murd'rer go." 

That part of the hymn which has been transferred to 
the Hymn-book is in the poet's most impassioned strain, 
and is a sublime description of the day of judgment, 
founded evidently upon the opening of the sixth seal, 
{Rev. vi, 13, 14,) " And th.e stars of heayen fell unto the 

earth And the heaven departed as a scroll 

when it is rolled together ; and every mountain and 
island were moved out of their places." 

Hymn 579. " That awful day will surely come." — Watts. 

" The Everlasting Absence of God intolerable." 
Eight stanzas ; the last three omitted. The author 
wrote the first couplet of verse 2 thus, — 

" Thou lovely Chief of all my joys, 
Thou Sovereign of my heart." 

There are two or three other verbal alterations which 
do not injure the hymn. 

Hymn 580. " Lift your heads, ye friends of Jesus." 

C. Wesley. 
" Thy Kingdom come." See remarks on hymns 
5*73, 574. In the English Hymn-book, verse 1, second 
line, we read " his sufferings ;" and verse 6, line third, 
" the tokens of his passion." But these are alterations, 
for the better it may be, from the original. 
19 



434 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

Hymn 581. ■ Woe to the men on earth who dwell."— C. Wesley. 

This, and hymn 583, are parts of a poem, On the 
Overthrow of Lisbon by an Earthquake in 1755, pub- 
lished the succeeding year. The following two double 
verses are some of those omitted : — 

" A voice out of the temple cries, 

And from the eternal throne, 
And all the storms of vengeance rise, 

When God declares "Tis done !' 
'Tis done ! ten thousand voices join 

To applaud his righteous ire ; 
And thunders roll and lightnings shine, 

That set the world on fire. 

" The mighty shock seems now begun, 

Beyond example great ; 
And lo ! the world's foundations groan 

As at their instant fate ! 
Jehovah shakes the shatter'd ball, 

Sign of the general doom ! 
The cities of the nations fall, 

And Babel's hour is come." 

Hymn 582. "Jesus, faithful to his word."— C. Wesley. 

A Funeral Hymn, founded on 1 Thess. iv, 13-18. 
Six stanzas ; 4, 5, and 6 of which, compose our hymn, 
and are a beautiful paraphrase on the last three verses 
of the above text : " For the Lord himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an arch- 
angel, and with the trump of God ; and the dead in 
Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and 
remain shall be caught up together with them in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we 
ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 435 

another with these words." The poet wrote the fourth 
line, verse 1, thus, — 

" Shall pompously attend." 
In a review of the new Hymn-book of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, this alteration is thus no- 
ticed : — " That fine old classical word, 'pompously,'' has 
been brought back in place of the substitute, 'joyfully* 
C. Wesley had a fondness for the word pomp, if we 
may judge from the frequency of its occurrence in his 
hymns. He takes care, however, not to use it in a 
loose, indiscriminate manner ; but seems ever to have 
his eye upon its original import. It was a religious 
word among the Greeks, and used by them to denote 
a solemn procession : accordingly C. Wesley says : 
'There the pompous triumph waits,' — 'And lead the 
pompous triumph on,' — ' By the pomp of thine ascend- 
ing.' Having heard objections to this noble word, as it 
occurs in our hymns, we have thought proper to speak 
in its behalf ; not indeed as if it were a peculiarity of 
C. Wesley, for we find it in all the best writers." — 
Southern Methodist Quarterly, vol. ii, p. 108. 

Hymn 583. " By faith we find the place above." — C. Wesley. 
See hymn 581. 

Hymn 584. " How happy are the little flock."— C. Wesley. 

" This fine hymn," says Mr. Jackson, " was written 
after hearing of the destruction of Lisbon, and of the 
expected invasion of England by the French. He sent 
it in a somewhat unfinished form in a letter to his wife." 

Hymn 585. " Behold ! with awful pomp." — Hart. 
" The Day of Judgment." 



436 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 586. " Eighteous God, whose vengeful vials." — C. Wesley. 
This was written on the same occasion as hymns 581, 
583, 584, and contains six stanzas. When Mr. John 
Wesley made the general collection, from which the 
hymns in our book purport to be principally taken, he 
omitted the following two stanzas, 3 and 4, from this 
hymn, as not suited to popular use ; the last of which 
is remarkable : — 

" By the signals of Thy coming, 

Soon, we know, thou wilt appear, 
Evil with thy breath consuming, 

Setting up thy kingdom here : 
Thy last heavenly revelation 

These tremendous plagues forerun, 
Judgment ushers in salvation, 

Seats thee on thy glorious throne. 

" Earth unhinged as from her hasis, 

Owns her great Restorer nigh ; 
Plunged in complicate distresses, 

Poor distracted sinners cry ; 
Men their instant doom deploring, 

Faint heneath their fearful load : 
Ocean working, rising, roaring, 

Claps his hands to meet his God." 

Hymn 587. " Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing." 

The writer has not been able to discover the origin 
or authorship of this hymn. 

Hymn 588. "Lo! I come with joy to do." — C. Wesley. 

"For a Believer, in Worldly Business." A delight- 
ful and appropriate hymn. The lesson and reproof con- 
tained in the last couplet of the first stanza reach at 
once the reader's heart : — 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 437 

" Faithful to my Lord's commands, 
I still would choose the better part ; 
Serve with careful Martha's hands, 
And loving Mary's heart." 

One stanza, the fourth, omitted. It runs thus, — 

" To the desert, or the cell, 

Let others blindly fly, 
In this evil world I dwell, 

Unhurt, unspotted, I : 
Here I find a house of prayer, 

To which I inwardly retire,. 
Walking unconcern'd in care, 

And unconsumed in fire." 

Hymn 589. " Thou, my God, art good and wise." — C. Wesley. 
One of our poet's excellent " Hymns for Children." 

Hymn 590. "All things are possible to him." — C. Wesley. 

A beautiful dilatation of the words of Jesus, which 
also form the burden of each stanza : "All things are 
possible to him that believeth." Mark ix, 23. Two 
verses, 3 and 6, omitted. 

Hymn 591. " O God of our forefathers, hear." — C. Wesley. 

On the Lord's Supper, under the head, " The Holy- 
Eucharist, as it implies a Sacrifice." 

Htmn 592. " Abraham, when severely tried." — C. Wesley. 

A paraphrase and expansion of Hebrews xi, 17—19 : 
"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up 
Isaac : and he that had received the promises, offered 
up his only-begotten son, of whom it was said, That in 
Isaac shall thy seed be called : accounting that God 
was able to raise him up, even from the dead ; from 
whence also he received him in figure." Twelve verses : 



438 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY.' 

3, 4, 5, 6, and 11, omitted. The whole chapter {Heb. xi) 
is paraphrased, entitled, " The Life of Faith exempli- 
fied ;" the first six stanzas of which compose hymn 176. 

Hymn 593. " How weak the thoughts and vain." — C. Wesley. 

This fine hymn was written upon the occasion of the 
earthquakes in London, in the year 1750 ; for some ac- 
count of which, see page 169. 

Hymn 594. n "Worship, and thanks, and blessing." — C. Wesley. 

This glorious gospel blast was " written after a de- 
liverance in a tumult," and was often afterward sounded 
on similar occasions ; one of which, related by Charles 
Wesley in his journal, is too interesting and touching 
to be omitted here. The hymn, and the occasion of its 
composition, ought to be familiar to every young 
Methodist minister from the very commencement of his 
itinerant life ; their remembrance would doubtless en- 
able him to meet manfully the less formidable difficul- 
ties he may frequently encounter and overcome. 

It was in the year 1747 ; and the following is but 
the conclusion of a long account of a " mob at Devizes," 
which may be found in Jackson's Life of Charles 
Wesley : " After riding two or three hundred yards," 
says he, " I looked back and saw Mr. Merton on the 
ground, in the midst of the mob, and two bull-dogs 
upon him. One was first let loose, which leaped at 
the horse's nose ; but the horse with his foot beat him 
down. The other fastened on his nose, and hung there, 
till Mr. Merton, with the but-end of his whip, felled 
him to the ground. Then the first dog recovering, flew 
at the horse's breast, and fastened there. The beast 
reared up, and Mr. Merton slid gently off. The dog 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 439 

kept his hold till the flesh tore off. Then some of the 
men took off the dogs ; others cried, "Let them alone.' 
But neither beast nor man had any further commission 
to hurt. I stopped the horse, and delivered him to my 
friend. He remounted, with great composure, and we 
rode on leisurely, as before, till out of sight. Then we 
mended our pace, and in an hour came to Seen, having 
rode three miles about, and by seven to Wrexall. The 
news of our danger was got thither before us, but we 
brought the welcome tidings of our own deliverance. 
Now we saw the hand of Providence in suffering them 
to turn out our horses ; that is, to send them to us against 
we wanted them. Again, how plainly were we over- 
ruled to send our horses down the town, which blinded 
the rioters without our designing it, and drew off their 
engines and them, leaving us a free passage at the 
other end of the town ! "We joined in hearty praises to 
our Deliverer, singing the hymn, — 

' Worship, and thanks, and blessing,' " &c. 

The fifth stanza, not being transferred to the Hymn- 
book, is here inserted : — 

" Safe as devoted Peter 

Betwixt the soldiers sleeping, 
Like sheep we lay, to wolves a prey, 

Yet still in Jesus' keeping. 
Thou from th' infernal Herod, 

And Jewish expectation, 
Hast set us free ; all praise to thee, 

O God of our salvation !" 

Men who could suffer and thus sing, would, under 
similar circumstances, be as ready as Daniel to be cast 
into the lions' den, or to enter, like the three Hebrew 



440 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

children, the fiery furnace, even though it were heated 
seven times hotter than usual. 



Hymn 595. " Who is this gigantic foe." — C. Wesley. 

A spirited versification and improvement of the ac- 
count given of " David and Goliah," in the seventeenth 
chapter of first Samuel. Thirteen stanzas : 4, 7, 8, 9, 
12, and 13, omitted. 

Hymn 596. " Jesus, shall I never be." — C. Wesley. 

" Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ 
Jesus." Philip, ii, 5. Seven verses omitted. 

Hymn 597. "Jesus, the gift divine I know." — C. Wesley. 

" If thou knowest the gift of God .... thou wouldest 
have asked of him, and he would have given thee 
living water," <kc. John iv, 10, 14. "Pure religion, 
and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, To 
visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to 
keep himself unspotted from the world." James i, 21. 
Verses 1 and 2 are founded upon the former, and 3, 4, 
and 5, upon the latter, text. 

Hymn 598. "Father, see this living clod." — C. Wesley. 

" The Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, 
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man 
became a living soul." Gen. ii, V. " I am the Almighty 
God ; walk before me, and be thou perfect." Gen. xvii, 1. 

Verse 2, — 

" Burst this Babylonish yoke." 

" I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." Jer. 
xxviii, 4. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 441 

Hymn 599. " The voice that speaks Jehovah near." 

C. Wesley. 
" And after the fire a still small voice. And it was 
so when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his 
mantle." 1 Kings xix, 12, 13. 

Hymn 600. "Lay to thy hand, God of grace." — C. Wesley. 

This is composed of the last three stanzas of the 
third part of a long poem in four parts, entitled, 
" Groaning for Redemption." Hymn 323 is the last 
part of the same composure. 

Hymn 601. " Give glory to Jesus our Head." — C. Wesley. 

"On the Death of a Widow." Five stanzas ; the 
fifth omitted. We presume this hymn is seldom used ; 
the first two verses are too personal, although intended 
for a special purpose. The last stanza is a sublime 
strain. A literary friend has noticed the analogy of 
thought between a couplet of this hymn and a passage 
in Hudibras. Wesley, in the second stanza, expresses 
the beautiful idea : — 

" Where glorified spirits, by sight 
Converse in their happy abode." 

Butler says : — 

" Or who, but lovers, can converse, 
Like angels, by the eye discourse ? 
Address and compliment by vision — " 

Hymn 602. " Sun of unclouded righteousness." — C. Wesley. 
From Hymns of Intercession for all Mankind, entitled, 
" For the Turks." In verses 3 and 4, Mr. Burgess re- 
marks, "we have a forcible and affecting prayer on 
behalf of Mohammedans and Unitarians ; who, as agree- 
ing in the rejection of the Holy Trinity, while they 
19* 



442 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

profess to acknowledge the unity of the Godhead, are 
classed together. The poet appears to apply that pro- 
phetic passage, [Revelation ix, 2, &c.,) to the rise and 
progress of the Mohammedan imposture : and as the 
locusts are there represented as coming out of the 
smoke, and the smoke out of the bottomless pit, this 
probably led him to adopt that bold expression, — 

' The Unitarian fiend expel, 
And chase his doctrine back to hell.' 

From hell it came, as a device of him who is the an- 
gel of -the bottomless pit, the father of lies, the great 
adversary of God and man. Well, therefore, may we 
pray that this delusive and ruinous doctrine may return 
to hell, and there abide, that it may no longer trouble 
and injure the earth." 

Hymn 603. " Lord over all, if thon hast made." — C. Wesley. 

This is from the same work as the above, and is 
entitled, " For the Heathen." Mr. J. Wesley has 
quoted the third stanza at the end of his " Thoughts 
upon Slavery," in the sixth volume of his Works : — 

" The servile progeny of Ham 

Seize as the purchase of thy blood ! 

Let all the heathens know thy name : 
From idols to the living God 

The dark Americans convert, 

And shine in every pagan heart !" 

Htmx 604. " come, thou radiant Morning-Star." — C. Wesley. 
" There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scep- 
tre shall rise out of Israel. . . . Edom shall be a pos- 
session. . . . Israel shall do valiantly." Numbers xxiv, 
17,18. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 443 

Hymn 605. " O Lord, our God, we bless thee now." — C. Wesley. 
" And David said to all the congregation, Now bless 
the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed 
the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their 
heads, and worshiped the Lord." 1 Chron. xxix, 20. 

Hymn 606. " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow." — Kenn. 

The doxology originally appeared at the end of 
Bishop Kenn's three well-known hymns for Morning, 
Evening, and Midnight ; which were added to the third 
edition of his " Manual of Prayers for the Use of the 
Scholars of Winchester College," &c, 1697. The au- 
thor wrote the third line thus, — 

" Praise him above, ?/' angelic host." 

Mr. Montgomery says this incomparable doxology 
" is a master-piece at once of amplification and com- 
pression : amplification, on the burden, ' Praise God/ 
repeated in each line ; — compression, by exhibiting him 
as the object of praise in every view in which we can 
imagine praise due to him : praise for all his blessings, 
yea for all blessings, none coming from any other 
source : praise by every creature, specifically invoked, 
'here below,' and in heaven 'above:' praise to him in 
each of the characters wherein he has revealed him- 
self in his word — ' Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.' Yet 
this comprehensive verse is sufficiently simple, that by 
it 'out of the mouths of babes and sucklings praise 
might be perfected ;' and it appears so easy, that one 
is tempted to think hundreds of the sort might be made 
without trouble. The reader has only to try, and he 
will quickly be undeceived, though the longer he tries, 
the more difficult he will find the task to be." 



444 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 607. " Am I a soldier of the cross." — Watts. 

This hymn was originally published by the author 
at the end of his thirty-first sermon, entitled, " Holy 
Fortitude ; or, Remedies against Fear ;" on the text, 
" Stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." 
1 Cor. xvi, 13. 

The last couplet of verse 5 was written by Dr. Watts 
thus, — 

" They see the triumph from afar, 
And seize it with their eye" 

This hymn is a fine apostrophe for the use of the 
Christian soldier, who is represented by the poet in a 
review of his character and duties, and with an earnest 
desire to engage in the conflict in which he is sure of 
conquest by faith in Him who has already conquered 
all his foes. The hymn breathes the true spirit of the 
soldier of the cross of Christ. His business is to fight 
against the foes of his faith, and he has no wish to 
escape the contest. He would wear no laurel that he 
does not gain under the banner of the great Captain of 
his salvation. He disdains to be 



- carried to the skies 



On flowery beds of ease, 

"While others fought to win the prize, 

And sail'd through bloody seas," 

and boldly asks for the foes he is to face. And, after 
expressing his resolve to fight his* way to heaven, and 
anticipating the bliss that he shall enjoy, he ascribes all 
the glory to Him who hath purchased it with his blood. 
Let every Christian soldier enter and continue in the 
warfare with the spirit of this hymn. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 445 

Hymn 608. " Behold the sure foundation-stone." — Watts. 

" Christ the Foundation of his Church." Psalm cxviii, 
22, 23. 

Hymn 609. " Rock of ages, cleft for me." — Toplady. 

" A Prayer, Living and Dying." Although we have 
given Mr. Toplady as the author of this hymn, there is, 
perhaps, some cause for doubt upon the subject. See 
pages 47-50. 

Hymn 610. " Thou, who hast in Sion laid." — Mrs. Bulmer. 

On Laying the Foundation, or Corner-stone, of a 
New Church, by the author of "Messiah's Kingdom." 

Hymn 611. " Great God ! who laid on Sion's mount." 
Hymn 612. " O Thou before whose lofty throne." 
Hymn 613. " Surely the Lord is here." — J. Kennaday. 

On Laying the Foundation, or Corner-stone, of a 
New Church. 

Hymn 614. "Father of earth and sky." — C. Wesley. 
A paraphrase on the Lord's Prayer. Matt, vi, 9-13. 

Hymn 615. " Great God, thy watchful care we bless." 

Doddridge. 

" The Church, the Birthplace of the Saints, and 
God's Care of it." Psa. lxxxvii, 5. " On Opening a 
New Place of Worship." Six stanzas ; 1, 2, and 5, 
omitted. The first two are as follow : — 

" And will the great eternal God 
On earth establish his abode ? 
And will he from his radiant throne 
Avow our temples for his own ? 



446 METHODIST HYMNOLOGf. 

" We bring the tribute of our praise, 
And sing that condescending grace, 
Which to our notes will lend an ear, 
And call us sinful mortals near." 

The next verse, the first in our book, commences, " Our 
Father's watchful care," &c. 

Hymn 616. " How pleasant, how divinely fair." 

Hymn 617. " Great God, attend, while Sion sings" — Watts. 

The first and second parts of Psalm lxxxiv ; the 
former entitled, " The Pleasure of Public Worship," 
from which two stanzas, 2 and 3, are excluded ; the 
latter, " God and his Church ; or, Grace and Glory." 

The omitted third stanza, hymn 616, reads thus, — 

" The sparrow chooses where to rest, 
And for her young provides her nest : 
But will my God to sparrows grant 
That pleasure which his children want ?" 

Hymn 618. " Great is the Lord our God."— Watts. 

" The Church is the Honor and Safety of a Nation." 
Psa. xlviii. First Part. Three stanzas, 4, 5, and 6, 
omitted. A nation might well be said to rest secure, to 
whom the language of the fifth stanza could be applied ; 
and Dr. Watts has applied it to his native land : — 

" When navies, tall and proud, 
Attempt to spoil our peace, 
He sends his tempests roaring loud, 
And sinks them in tlie seas .'" 

Similar in sentiment is that fine of C. Wesley, in which 
he prays for the defeat of the French navy, when that 
nation was threatening to invade England, if by no 
other possible means, 

" Sink them in the Channel, Lord !" 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 447 

Hymn 619. " With glory clad, with strength array'd." 

Tate and Brady. 
The ninety-third Psalm, from the " New Version " 
of the Psalms of David, by the authors whose names 
are given. 

Hymn 620. " How lovely are thy tents, O Lord!" — C. Wesley. 
A paraphrase of the eighty-fourth Psalm. 

Hymn 621. " Who Jesus our example know." — C. Wesley. 

"Now Peter and John went up together into the 
temple at the hour of prayer." Acts iii, 1. 

Hymn 622. " Great is our redeeming Lord." — C. Wesley. 

A paraphrase of Psalm xlviii, containing ten stanzas ; 
1, 6, 9, and 10 of which, compose our hymn. 

Hymn 623. " Behold thy temple, God of grace." 

Hymn 624. " To Thee, thou high and lofty One." — Mrs. Palmer. 

The latter was composed for, and sung at, the dedica- 
tion of Mulberry-street Church, in the city of New- York. 



Hymn 625. "Jesus, my God and King!" — C. 1 

A Hymn to Christ the King, embracing eleven stan- 
zas; the last four omitted. One of those excluded, 
verse 9, contains a fine description of the expulsion of 
the rebel angel from heaven. The expression in the 
last line, 

"Headlong hurVd to deepest hell!" 

is particularly striking, sense and sound being as admi- 
rably combined as in any passage of our best English 
poets ; while the alliteration in three out of five words, 
gives the line a finish that is exquisite, and almost inimi- 
table :— 



448 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Thee, when the Dragon's pride 
To battle vain defied, 

Brighter than the Morning Star, 
Lucifer, as lightning fell, 

Far from heaven, from glory far, 
Headlong hurl'd to deepest hell !" 

"How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the 
morning ! how art thou cut down to the ground that 
didst weaken the nations!" Isa. xiv, 12. "I beheld 
Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Luke x, 18. 



Hymn 626. " Earth, rejoice, the Lord is King." — C. 

Fourteen stanzas, entitled, "To be sung in a Tu- 
mult ;" of which 1, 2, 9, 10, 11, and 12, compose our 
hymn. Whatever cause there formerly may have been 
for the use of this hymn, we rejoice to think that while 
the church is now employing the stanzas retained, in 
celebrating the victories of the cross, the omitted verses 
have become obsolete, for want of a " tumult " in which 
to sing them. The reader would, perhaps, be pleased 
to see two or three of the excluded stanzas ; take the 
third, sixth, and eighth : — 

" Roaring lion, own his power : 
Us thou never canst devour, 
Pluck'd we are out of thy teeth, 
Saved by Christ from hell and death." 

" Jesus greater we proclaim, 
Him in us, than thee in them : 
Thee their god he overpowers, 
Thou art theirs, and Christ is ours." 

" All thy hosts to battle bring, 
Shouts in us a stronger King, 
Lifts our hearts and voices high — 
Hark ! the morning stars reply." 

Then follow the last four verses of our hymn. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 449 

Hymn 627. "Come, thou Conqu'ror of the nations." — C. Wesley. 
This is a paraphrase of Revelation xix, 1 1-16 : " And 
I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse ; and 
he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True ; 
and in righteousness he doth judge and make war," &c. 
The fifth stanza omitted. 

Hysin 628. "Father of boundless grace." — C. Wesley. 

" It shall come, that I will gather all nations and 
tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory." 
Isa. lxvi, 18. The second stanza excluded. 

Hymn 629. "Head of thy church, whose Spirit fills."— C. Wesley. 
This is found under the head, " Hymns of Interces- 
sion." Eight verses ; the second, seventh, and eighth, 
rejected. 

Hymn 630. " Eternal Lord of earth and skies." — C. Wesley. 

" Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the 
earth : for I am God, and there is none else. I have 

sworn by myself that unto me every knee shall 

bow, every tongue shall swear." Isa. xlv, 22, 23. 

Hymn 631. "Let Sion in her King rejoice." — Watts. 

"God fights for his Church." Psalm xlvi, 6-11. 
The author wrote the second line of the first verse 
thus, — " Though tyrants rage," &c. 

Hymn 632. "Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!" — C. Wesley. 

" And when he is come, he will reprove the world 
of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." John 
xvi, 8. These four stanzas are selected from three 
different hymns for Whitsunday, or, "The Promise of 
the Father." 



450 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 633. " The heavens declare thy glory, Lord." — Watts. 

" The Books of Nature and of Scripture compared ; 
or, the Glory and Success of the Gospel." Psalm xix. 
Six stanzas ; the last omitted, in which the poet changes 
the grammatical form, thus giving a forcible personal 
application to the singular pronoun in the last couplet : — 

" Thy noblest wonders here we view 
In souls renew'd, and sins forgiven : 
Lord, cleanse my sins, my soul renew, 
And make thy word my guide to heaven." 

Hymn 634. " Saviour, whom our hearts adore." — C. Wesley. 

The occasion of this hymn is indicated in its title, 
" On the American War." See page 216. 

Hymn 635. " The law and prophets all foretold ." 
Hymn 636. " Jesus, the word bestow." 
Hymn 637. " Saviour, we know thou art." 
Hymn 638. "Lord, if at thy command." — C. Wesley. 

These four hymns are from the author's unpublished 
poetry, now in the possession of the Wesley an Confer- 
ence, and were inserted in the Supplement added in 
1 83 to the English Hymn-book. The following hymns 
were inserted at the same time, and are from the same 
source: — 621, 667, 676, 679,686, 687, and the last 
two verses of 664. 

Hymn 639. " Listen ! Sion ! Jehovah hath spoken." 

Mrs. Palmer. 

A parody on " Daughter of Sion, awake from thy 

sadness !" 

Hymn 640. "From Greenland's icy mountains." — Bishop Heber. 
This beautiful hymn was originally intended to be 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 451 

sung on occasion of Mr. Heber's preaching a sermon for 
the Church Missionary Society, in April, 1820. 

Hymn 641. " Lord, haste to claim thy purchased right." 

Hymn 642. " Go, holy book ! thou word diviue." 

Hymn 643. " The God of heaven reveals to man." 

Hymn 644. " As wave on wave, years pass away." — Mrs. Palmer. 

Hymn 645. " Mercy, descending from above." — J. Straphan. 

" For Sunday or Charity Schools !" In James Mont- 
gomery's " Christian Psalmist " the first and third stan- 
zas of this hymn read thus : — 

" Bless'd is the man whose heart expands 
At melting Pity's call ; 
And the rich blessings of whose hands 
Like heavenly manna fall." 

" Be ours the bliss, in wisdom's way 
To guide untutor'd youth ; 
And lead the mind that went astray 
To virtue and to truth." 

Hymn 646. " Come, let our voices join." — W. Budden. 

This was first published in the " Evangelical Maga- 
zine " for 1795, with the initials " W. B.," entitled, "A 
Hymn, composed for the Use of the Congregation and 
Sunday-school Children, belonging to the Rev. Mr. 
Ashburner's Meeting, Poole, Dorset." There are in the 
Hymn-book some verbal alterations, and the omission of 
the second stanza and chorus : — 

CHILDREN. 

" When wand'ring far astray, 
In patbs of vice and sin, 
You kindly pointed out 
The danger we were in. 



452 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

" CONGREGATION. 

" To God alone be all the praise, 
Who turns your feet from sinful ways." 

Hymn 647. " Thou, who didst with love and blessing." 

Jane Taylor. 

" A Public Hymn for the Teachers," from a small 
tract of "Original Hymns for Sunday Schools. By- 
Ann and Jane Taylor." 

Hymn 648. " Hail the day that sees Him rise." — C. Wesley. 

"A Hynin for Ascension Day." See hymn 582, for 
some observations on the first line of verse 2, — 
" There the pompous triumph waits." 

Hymn 649. "Sons of God, triumphant rise." — C. Wesley. 

On the Lord's Supper ; to be used " After the Sacra- 
ment." Eight stanzas; of which 1, 2, 3, and 8, com- 
pose our hymn. 

Hymn 650. " Father, God, we glorify." — C. Wesley. 
For our Lord's Resurrection. 

Hymn 651. " "What equal honors shall we bring." — Watts. 

"Christ's Humiliation and Exaltation." Rev. v, 12. 
Some verbal alterations, and one stanza, the fourth, 
omitted. 

Hymn 652. " God is gone up on high." — C. Wesley. 
For Ascension Day. 

Hymn 653. " Coming through our great High Priest." — C. Wesley. 
"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the 
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever 
liveth to make intercession for them." Heb. vii, 25. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 453 

Hymn 654 " Come, Holy Spirit, raise our songs." — C. Wesley. 
" For the Day of Pentecost :" twelve stanzas, 5, 6, 7, 
8, and 9, of which, form verses 4, 5, 6, 1, and 8, of our 
hymn ; the rest are excluded. About the authorship 
of the first three verses there is some uncertainty. 
"They appear," says Mr. Burgess, "in a collection of 
Psalms and Hymns, published in 1800, by Robert Carr 
Brackenbury, Esq., and were possibly composed by that 
gentleman." 

Hymn 655. " Creator, Spirit, by whose aid." — Dryden. 

A paraphrase of the Latin hymn, " Veni, Creator 
Spiritus," of St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, in the fourth 
century. There are some alterations in it stands in the 
Hymn-book, and two stanzas omitted. 

The Rev. J. Chandler, of Corpus Christi College, 
Oxford, who translated, and published in 183*7, a col- 
lection of "Hymns of the Primitive Church," says, that 
in the primitive times each day, or twenty-four hours, 
was " parceled out " into eight services, there being a 
service at the end of every three hours : "to wit, first, 
Nocturn, 1 2 at night ; second, Matins, 3 in the morning ; 
third, Ad Primam, 6 A. M. ; fourth, Ad Tertiam, 9 A.M. ; 
fifth, Ad Sextam, 12 in the day; sixth, Ad Nonam, 
3 in the afternoon ; seventh, Vespers, or Evensong, 
6 P. M. ; eighth, Completorium, or Conclusion, 9 P. M." 

" Ad Tertiam, or 9 A. M., is invariably a hymn to the 
Holy Spirit, as being the hour in which, on the day of 
Pentecost, he came down on the apostles. This seems 
to have been observed from the very earliest times; 
most likely the ' Veni Creator' of St. Ambrose, was 
merely a new hymn written by him on a subject already 
familiar to the church, from the apostles downward." 



454 METHODIST HYMXOLOGY. 

Hymn 656. "Jesus, we on the words depend." — C. Wesley. 

"These things have I spoken unto you, being yet 
present with you. But the Comforter, which is the 
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, 
he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to 
your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you : not 
as the world giveth, give I unto you." John xiv, 25, 
26, 27. 

Hymn 657. " Sovereign of all the worlds on high." — Doddridge. 
"A Filial Temper, the Work of the Spirit, and a Proof 
of Adoption." Gal.iv, 6. The last stanza omitted. The 
author wrote the third line, first verse, thus, — 
" Nor, while a worm would raise its head." 

There are other emendations, the most important of 
which are in the second verse, which originally read as 
follows : — 

" My Father God ! how sweet the sound ! 
How tender and how dear ! 
Not all the melody of heaven 
Could so delight the ear." 

Hymn 658. " Eternal Spirit, come." 

Hymn 659. " Father, glorify thy Son." — C. Wesley. 

The latter founded on John xiv, 16, 17 : "And I 
will pray the Father, and he shall give you another 
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever ; even 
the Spirit of truth ; whom the world cannot receive, 
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him : but ye 
know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in 
you." One stanza omitted from hymn 658, and two 
from 659. 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 455 

Hymn 660. " Though nature's strength decay." — Olivers. 
Second and third parts of hymn 270, which see. 

Hymn 661. "Eternal Source of every joy." — Doddridge. 

"The Year crowned with the Divine Goodness." 
Psalm lxv, 11. For New- Year's Day. 

Hymn 662. " Wisdom ascribe, and might, and praise." 

C. Wesley. 

The first of the author's New- Year Hymns. Six 
stanzas ; the third, fourth, and sixth, excluded. There 
are few more beautifully sublime passages in our Hymn- 
book than the fourth stanza, especially the last line. 
The idea of the poet is that of a sinner weighed in the 
" balance " of the gospel, and found wanting : the beam 
begins to preponderate, a soul is about to topple into 
hell; but, hark! the "remnant" are praying, the Holy 
Ghost is groaning, the Son interceding, the Father be- 
comes propitious, and the swift- winged angel of mercy 
executes his commission by touching the quivering 
scale, and, lo ! that soul is saved : — 

" Still in the doubtful balance weigh'd, 
"We trembled, while the remnant pray'd ; 
The Father heard his Spirit groan, 
And answer'd mild, It is my Son ! 
He let the prayer of faith prevail, 
And Mercy turrid the hov'ring scale !" 

The term " remnant " in the second line probably re- 
fers to Romans ix, 27 : " Though the number of the 
children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant 
shall be saved." 

Hymn 663. " God of my life, through all my days." — Doddridge. 
" Praising God through the whole of our Existence." 



456 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Psa. cxlvi, 2. This is a delightful hymn ; through the 
third verse there runs a strain of delicate but expres- 
sive thought, quite in keeping with the solemnity of the 
subject : — ■ 

" When death o'er nature shall prevail, 
And all the powers of language fail, 
Joy through my swimming eyes shall break, 
And mean the thanks I cannot speak." 

Hymn 664. " Jesus, was ever love like thine f — C. Wesley. 

" Jesus, when he had cried with a loud voice, yielded 
up the ghost," [dismissed his spirit. Gr.~\ Matt, xxvii, 50. 
The first verse is founded on this text, in the author's 
Scripture Hymns ; the last two verses are from his un- 
published poetiy. 

Hymn 665. " Tremendous God, with humble fear." — C. Wesley. 

" It is appointed unto men once to die." Heb. ix, 27. 

This hymn was originally published in the Arminian 

Magazine in 1780. The sentiment of the last line of the 

second verse, is, we think, too unguarded. Man is not 

" Born only to lament and die !" 

Hymn 666. " I call the world's Redeemer mine." — C. Wesley. 

" I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall 
stand at the last day upon the earth : and though after 
my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall 
I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine 
eyes shall behold, and not another ; though my veins 
be consumed within me." Job xix, 25-27. Charles 
Wesley, by adopting the idea and language of the trans- 
lators of the authorized version of the Bible, " though 
after my skin worms destroy this body''' (the italicized 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 45 T 

words not being in the original text,) has in this hymn 
fallen into the universal vulgar error that worms destroy 
the human body after sepulture in the earth. His lan- 
guage in verses 2 and 4 is,— 

" And though the worms this skin devour." 
" Then let the worms demand their prey" 

Among the authors of our hymns, two others, Watts 
and Hart, in hymns 554 and 5*70, have used similar 
expressions, which are neither found in the original 
Scriptures, nor founded upon fact. 

Hymn 667. "May not a creating God." — C. Wesley. 

From the author's unpublished manuscripts. See 
hymn 635, &c. 

Hymn 668. "Almighty Maker of my frame." — Steele. 

A paraphrase of Psalm xxxix, embracing thirteen 
stanzas, which open thus : — 

" When I resolved to watch my thoughts, 
To watch my words and all my ways, 
Lest I should with unwary faults 

Offend the God my life should praise ; 

" In mournful silence long restrain'd, 

My thoughts were press'd with sacred grief ; 
My heart with sad reflection pain'd, 
In silence found no kind relief. 
" While thus the inward anguish hurn'd. 

My straiten'd speech at length found way ; 
My tongue in broken accents mourn'd 
Before my God, and tried to pray." 

Then follow in consecutive order the four stanzas that 
compose our hymn : the last six, and the above three, 
being omitted. 

20 



458 METHODIST HYMNOLOGV. 

Hymn 669. " O when shall we sweetly remove." — C. Wesley. 

A Funeral Hymn of six stanzas ; the third and sixth 
excluded. The former stanza, in lines four and eight, 
contains sentiments characteristic of the brothers Wes- 
ley on the subject of dying. Death to them was a 
familiar topic. They frequently expressed a desire to 
"cease at once to work and live." The verse reads 
thus : — 

" Who then upon earth can conceive, 

The bliss that in heaven they share ; 
Who then the dark world would not leave, 

And cheerfully die to be there ? 
O Saviour, regard our complaints, 

Array'd in thy majesty, come, 
Fulfill the desire of thy saints, 

And suddenly gather us home /" 

Hymn 670. " Lord of the wide, extensive main." — C. Wesley. 

"To be sung at Sea." The last verse omitted. This 
hymn was probably composed by our poet previous to 
his and his brother's mission to America, and in view of 
their departure from their native land. Hence the pro- 
priety of the language of the second stanza : — 

" For Thee we leave our native shore — 
We, whom thy love delights to keep — 
In other worlds thy works explore, 
And see thy wonders in the deep." 

Hymn 671. " Give me the wings of faith, to rise." — Waits. 
" The Examples of Christ and the Saints." 

Hymn 672. " Where shall true believers go." — C. Wesley. 
From " Hymns for Children," entitled, " Of Heaven." 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 459 

Hymn 673. " Father of all, thy care we bless." — Doddridge. 

" God's Gracious Approbation of a Religious Care of 
our Families." Gen. xviii, 19. The author wrote the 
first line of the hymn, — " Father of men" &c. 

Hymn 674. " God of eternal truth and love." — C. Wesley. 

"At the Baptism of a Child." The second stanza 
omitted. 

Hymn 675. " How large the promise, how divine." — Watts. 

"Abraham's Blessing on the Gentiles." Gen xvii, 1 ; 
Bom. xv, 8 ; Mark x, 14. 

Hymn 676. " Lord of all, with pure intent." — C. Wesley. 

From the author's unpublished poetry. See hymn 
635, &c. 

Hymn 677. " See Israel's gentle Shepherd stand." — Doddridge. 

" Christ's Condescending Regard to Little Children." 
Marie x, 14. The fourth and fifth verses omitted : the 
former we insert : — 

" Ye little flock, with pleasure hear : 
Ye children, seek his face ; 
And fly with transport to receive 
The blessings of his- grace." 

Hymn 678. " The Saviour, when to heaven he rose." — Doddridge. 

" The Institution of a Gospel Ministry from Christ." 
Eph. iv, 11, 12. "For the Ordination or Settlement 
of a Minister." Seven stanzas ; the first, and the moity 
of the third and fourth omitted. The last two verses 
are inserted as written by the author : — 



460 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

" Hence sprung th' apostles' honor'd name. 
Sacred beyond heroic fame ; 
Hence dictates the prophetic sage, 
And hence the evangelic page. 

" In lowlier forms, to bless our eyes, 
Pastors from hence, and teachers rise ; 
Who, though with feebler rays they shine. 
Still gild a long-extended line." 

Hymn 679. li Jesus, thy servants bless." — C. Wesley. 

From the author's unpublished manuscripts. See 
hymn 635, &c. 

Hymn 680. " O God ! how often hath thine ear." — W. M. Bunting. 

" The Covenant with God renewed. A Hymn for 
the New Year." This was originally published by the 
author in the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, for 1824. 

Hymn 681. " O how shall a sinner perform." — C. Wesley. 
This is found under the head, " In Temptation." 

Hymn 682. " O happy day that fix'd my choice." — Doddridge. 

"Rejoicing in our Covenant Engagements to God." 
2 Chron. xv, 15. The author wrote the last couplet of 
the fourth verse thus, — 

" With ashes who would grudge to part, 
When call'd on angels' bread to feast ?" 

Blessed is the man, says Mr. Montgomery, who can 
take the words of this hymn, and make them his own, 
from similar experience. 

Hymn 683. (; Hark, my soul ! it is the Lord." — Cowper. 

This beautiful hymn is founded upon our Saviour's 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 461 

second question to Simon Peter, " Lovest thou me?" 
John xxl, 16. 

Hymn 684. " Thou sweet-gliding Kedron, by thy silver streams." 

De Fleury. 

The Garden of Olivet. One stanza, the fourth, omitted. 
The first line of the hymn has been the subject of 
comment and criticism. The authoress wrote, " Thou 
soft-flowing Kedron, by thy silver stream;" not "sweet- 
gliding streams," as in the Hymn-book, neither of which 
descriptions are very characteristic of the muddy stream- 
let that flows only about three months in the year, 
during the heavy rains. The second stanza also is ob- 
jectionable, the sentiments being rather vapid ; and, in 
the last couplet, far-fetched and unnatural. 

Hymn 685. " Thou Fount of every good required." — Mrs. Palmer. 

Hymn 686. " Lord, whom winds and seas obey." 

Hymn 687. " Lord of earth, and air, and sea." — C. Wesley. 

From the author's inedited poetry. See hymns 635, &c. 

Hymn 688. " Thou that hangedst on the tree." — C. Wesley. 

" Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee ; 
according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou 
those that are appointed to die." Psalm lxxix, 11. A 
hymn for condemned malefactors, containing fourteen 
stanzas; 2, 3, 12, 13, and 14 of which, are omitted. 
The first of these reads thus, — 

" Outcasts of men, to thee we fly, 

To thee who wilt the worst receive, 
Forgive, and make us fit to die ; 
Alas ! we are not fit to live." 

The dilatation on faith, in verses 3, 4, and 5, is one 
of the most admirable expositions of cardinal doctrines 



462 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

of our holy religion to be found in the book, and in 
poetry, as well as piety, is worthy of the distinguished 
author. 

Hymn 689. " Hail, Father ! whose creating call." — S. Wesley, Jun. 
"A Hymn to God the Father." This is one of four 
excellent hymns by the same poet, entitled respectively, 
as the above, then, " to God the Son," " to God the 
Holy Ghost," and, " to the Trinity, Three Persons in 
one God." These are all, except the last, inserted in 
the Wesleyan Hymn-book. 

Hymn 690. " Hail, co-essential Three!" — C. Wesley. 

To the Trinity, found under the head, " Hymns and 
Prayers to the Trinity." 



Hymn 691. "Infinite God, to thee we raise." — C. 

This is an elegant paraphrase of that sublime devo- 
tional piece in the Liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, — Te Deinn laudamns. " It is questionable," 
says Mr. Benjamin Love, in his Records of Wesleyan 
Life, " whether there is any production merely human, 
worthy of being considered a rival to the TeDeum; 
and that person must be dead indeed to every spiritual 
feeling and emotion who can utter with his lips its 
touching sentences, and remain in heart unaffected and 
unimpressed ; who can repeat the solemn truth, ' We 
believe that Thou shalt come to be our Judge,' and not 
be unmoved ;" or sing, in the strain of the Methodist 
poet, — 

" And Thou, with judgment clad, shalt come 
To seal our everlasting doom." 

This paraphrase on the Te Deum has been ascribed 



METHODIST HYMNOLOGY, 463 

to Dryden ; but his version is far inferior to C. Wes- 
ley's ; it is in the usual decasyllabic verse, and com- 
mences thus,— 

K Thee, sovereign God, our grateful accents praise ; 
We own thee, Lord, and bless thy wond'rous ways." 

Hymn 692. " God is a name my soul adores." — Watts. 

From the author's Lyric Poems, entitled, " The 
Creator and Creatures." Two stanzas, second and sixth, 
omitted ; the latter of which is here given : — 

• 
" Thrones and dominions round Thee fall, 
And worship in submissive forms ; 
Thy presence shakes this lower hall, 
This little dwelling-place of worms." 

Hymn 693. " The Lord Jehovah reigns." — Watts. 

The original title to this is, "The Divine Perfec- 
tions." The author wrote the first couplet of verse 3 
thus, — 

" Through all his ancient works 
Surprising wisdom shines ;" 

and the first line of the fourth verse, — 
" And will this mighty King." 

Hymn 694. " Lord of the sabbath, hear our vows." — Doddridge. 

" The Eternal Sabbath." " There remaineth, there- 
fore, a rest to the people of God." Hebrews iv, 9. 
Doddridge wrote the last line of the first verse, — 

" The songs which from the desert rise." 

Hymn 695. "Again our weekly labors end." — J. Stennett. 
The same as hymn 529, on which see our remarks. 



464 METHODIST HYMNOLOGY. 

Hymn 696. " Far as creation's bounds extend."— Merrick. 

A paraphrase of Psalm cxlv, 9-13, 15-19. The 
author wrote the first couplet of verse 2 thus, — 

" The splendors of thy kindom tell, 
Delighted on thy wonders dwell ;" 

and the last couplet of the third verse thus, — 

" Thy ways eternal justice guides 
And mercy o'er thine act presides." 

Hymn 697. " Eternal depth of love divine."— J". Wesley. 

A translation from the German, entitled " God with 
us," containing eight quatrains ; the sixth and seventh 
omitted. They are here subjoined : — 

" Still on thee, Father, may we rest ! 
Still may we pant thy Son to know ! 
Thy Spirit breathe into our breast, 
Fountains of peace and joy below. 

tc Oft have we seen thy mighty power, 

Since from the world thou mad'st us free ; 
Still may we praise thee more and more, 
Our hearts more firmly knit to thee." 



INDEX. 



Addison Page 51,87,252,253 

Aitkin 50 

Authors of the hymns 11, 84, 91 

Bakewell, Rev. John 67, 88 

Beard, Rev. T., Hymn on Death 163 

Beddome, Rev. B 40 

:c Blow ye the trumpet, blow " 186 

Book of Common-Prayer '. 151, 261 

Boswell 56 

Brackenbury, Rev. R. C 453 

Bradburn, Rev. S., quoted 18, 270 

Brady and Tate 13 

Brevint,Dr 127 

Budden,W 90 

Bulmer, Agnes 80 

Bunting, W. M 76 

Burgess, Rev. W. P., sketch of 12 

, his Wesleyan Hymnology 12 

Cennick, Rev. John 68, 88 

, '•' Graces," by 69 

Chauncey, Dr 32 

Clarke, Dr. Adam, on Psalm cxlviii ., 296 

, on Music in Churches 391 

Coke, Rev. Dr 225 

Colliers of Kingswood 395 

Covenant Hymn 377 

Cowper 40, 60, 88, 364 

Damocles and Dionysius 246 

De Fleury, Maria 90 

20* 



466 INDEX. 

Doddridge's hymns Page 40, 43, 87 

Doggerel hymns 220, 222 

Donnington Park 119 

Dryden 89 

Earthquakes, C. Wesley's Sermon on the Cause and Cure of. 1 70 

Earthquake felt in England 169, 175 

Elegy on the Death of Rev. John Wesley 78 

on the Death of R. Jones, Esq 124 

English Wesleyan Hymn-book 19 

Everett, Rev. James, mentioned 12 

Everett's Wesleyan Takings 12 

Fawcett, Rev. Dr 82, 89 

Eire at Epworth, a relic of the 284 

Flam stead's Letter concerning Earthquakes 171 

Fletcher, Rev. John 337, 347, 353, 367, 369, 375 

Franklin's epitaph 403 

Funeral Hymns, Wesley's 179, 180 

Gambold, Bishop 68, 70, 88 

, epitaph on 70 

German, hymns translated from the 19 

Gilbert, Mrs 73 

" God save the King," original tune of 310 

Gray, the poet 318 

Georgia orphans, hymns for the 158 

Hall, Bishop, quoted 249 

Hammond, Rev. William 84 

Hart, Rev. Joseph 81, 89 

Hart and Watts 90 

Hastings, the ladies 118 

Heber, Bishop 40, 79 

Herbert's Poems 95 

Hervey, Rev. James 183 

Hicks, Rev. Dr., poems by 95 

Holland. John 52, 75 

Holy Club, the 217 

Huntingdon, countess of 118 



INDEX. 467 

Hymn-book of the Methodist E. Church Page 11, 91, 226 

Jackson, Rev. Thomas 19 

" Jacob's Ladder" 196 

Johnson, Dr. Samuel 29, 50, 56 

Kenn, Bishop 72, 89 

, Manual of Prayer by 73 

Kennaday, Dr 90 

Law, William, quoted , 249 

Liefchild's Original Hymns 77 

Liturgy, Mr. Wesley's Abridgment of, for the Methodist 

Episcopal Church 153 

Mallett 56 

Marriott, Thomas 94 

Marwell, Andrew 55, 293 

Mason, Rev. John 71, 88 

Maxwell, Lady 302 

Medley, Rev. Samuel 64, 89 

Merrick, Rev. James 75 

" Messiah's Kingdom," by Mrs. Bulmer 80 

Methodism, difficulties of 131 

Milner gives precedence to Watts among hymn-writers 32 

Milton, quoted 228, 240, 267 

Montgomery, James, mentioned 1 7, 416 

Montgomery's Christian Psalmist 30, 1 25 

Moore, Rev. Henry 185, 209 

Moravian Church 114 

Hymns 20, 23, 24 

More, Dr. Henry 83 

Newton, Rev. John 40, 56, 88 

Notes to the English Hymn-book 226 

Olivers, Thomas 77 

Olney Hymns 59, 62 

Orphan House 158 

Oxford Methodists 217 



468 INDEX. 

Palmer, Mrs Page 90 

Pope, quoted 231 

Psalms, New Version of the 75 

u Rise, my Soul, and stretch thy "Wings " 70 

Roberts. Rev. Thomas, his Hymnology 154 

on Charles "Wesley as a Poet 430 

Robinson, Rev. Robert 66, 314 

" Rock of ages.'' &c. 47 

Rowe, Mrs. Elizabeth 121 

Seagrave, Rev. Robert 70 

Shakspeare, quoted 264 

Singing by the Methodists 192 

' : Sketches of Woleyan Preachers," quoted 76 

Steele, Mrs. Anne 65, 88 

Stennett, Rev. Joseph 64, 88, 246 

Stennett, Rev. Samuel 63, 88 

Summers, Rev. Dr., quoted 248 

Supplement to the Wedeyan Hymn-book 225 

Tate and Brady 13, 75, 89 

Taylor, John 56 

Taylor, Thomas 60 

Taylor, Jane 73, 74 

"Te Deum" 462 

Terskegen, Gerhard 25 

Thompson, Capt., of Hull 55 

Tickell 51 

Toplady, Rev. A. M 40,44 

, some of "Wesley's hymns attributed to him 45, 87 

Translations from the German 19 

Traveler's Hymn 54 

Watchnight 134, 276 

Watson, Rev. Richard 19, 364, 365 

Watts, Dr. Isaac 30 

, faults of his hymns 38 

— , his Divine Songs 41 

, hymns by 85 



INDEX. 469 

Watts, satirical poem on Page 42 

, some of his hymns revised by J. Wesley . . 33, 156 

Watts and Wesley 91 

Wesley, Eev. C „ „ . 12 

, attacked by a mob at Devizes 438 

, character of his hymns, by John Wesley 223 

, his character as a preacher and a poet 13, 17 

, his hymns revised by his brother John 14 

, his talents not yet duly appreciated 38 

, hymn by, on recovery from sickness . 250 

-, Mr. Moore's description of — ... 424 

, not wanting in genius .' 37 

■ , poem containing his religious history 107 

Wesley, Eev. John 18 

, hymns by 84 

, preached in the German language 22 

, translated the hymns from the German 19 

Wesley, John and Charles, agree not to distinguish their 

hymns 18 

, Poem, containing their religious views before conver- 
sion 97 

Wesley, John and Charles, poetical publications of 93 

A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, 1738 93 

Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1739 94 

Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1740 106 

Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1742 1 13 

Collection of Moral and Sacred Poems, 1744 123 

Hymns on the Lord's Supper, 1745 127 

Hymns for Times of Trouble and Persecution, 1745 132 

Hymns for the Watchnight 135 

Hymns for the Nativity, 1745 135 

Hymns for Thanksgiving-day, October 9, 1746 137 

Graces after Meat 139 

Hymns on Redemption in the Blood of Christ, 1746 143 

Hymns of Petition and Thanksgiving, &c 147 

Hymns for Ascension Day 149 

Hymns for our Lord's Resurrection 1 50 

Collection of Psalms and Hymns 1 53 

Psalms and Hymns, 1748 155 

Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1749 161 



410 



INDEX. 



Hymns occasioned by the Earthquake, 1750 Page 170 

Gloria Patri, a Hymn to the Trinity 1 73 

Hymns for the Year 1756, particularly for the Fast-day. . 175 

Hymns for the Methodist Preachers, 1758 178 

Funeral Hymns 179 

Funeral Hymns, 1759 180 

Hymns for New- Year's Day, 1 755 185 

Hymns on God's Everlasting Love, 1 756 186 

Hymns of Intercession for all Mankind, 1758 187 

Hymns on the Expected Invasion, 1 759 189 

Hymns and Spiritual Songs 190 

Select Hymns for Christians of all Denominations, 1761 . 191 

Short Hymns on Select Passages of Scripture, 1762 193 

Hymns for Children and others of Riper Years, 1 766 . . - 202 

Hymns for the Use of Families, 1767 208 

Hymns on the Trinity, 1767 211 

Preparation for Death, in Several Hymns, 1772 213 

Hymns written in the Time of the Tumults, 1780 215 

Hymns for the Nation, 1782 216 

Prayers for Condemned Malefactors 217 

Pocket Hymn-book for Christians, &c, 1 785 218 

Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists, 1780. 222 

Wesley, Rev. Samuel, Sen 27 

, hymn by 85 

, Poem on, by his son 27 

Wesley, Rev. Samuel, Jun 28 

, hymns by 85 

, some of his poems in Southey's Specimens of British 

Poets 29 

Wesley, Miss Sarah 21 

Whitefield, Rev. George 73, 109, 158, 249 

, hymn on his embarking for America 108 

k> Wrestling Jacob " 181, 254 

Young, Dr., quoted 237, 432 

Zeal, Poem on, by John Wesley 100 

Zinzendorf, Count 114 






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